'Uttar Pradesh govt was aware of dumping of corpses in river'

An official said that the practice of dumping bodies in the river was prevalent in the state

A senior Uttar Pradesh government official in a meeting on May 15 told the Centre that the practice of dumping bodies in rivers was prevalent in the state and the UP government was aware of the same.

The meeting, chaired by Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), was held with the officials of UP and Bihar to follow up on the advisory notice issued by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) to both the states to “immediately stop” the act of dumping bodies in the rivers.

The Indian Express reported that, according to the records of the meeting, Rajnish Dubey, Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development), Government of UP, told that even before the visuals of bodies floating in rivers came out during the pandemic, the practice of disposing of bodies in the rivers was prevalent in the Kanpur-Unnao region in central UP and the Banaras-Ghazipur area in eastern UP.

Also read: India's daily Covid-19 cases under 1.75L after 45 days; 3,617 deaths reported in 24 hours

Dubey added, “It was informed that Western districts have not been reporting such incidences, while they are more in the central and eastern part of the UP, mainly from Kannauj to Balia,” according to the meeting records circulated this week.

However, according to the locals, lack of enough wood for funeral pyres forced them to leave the bodies in the rivers. In the past few weeks, hundreds of bodies of suspected Covid-19 victims were found floating in the rivers and buried near the ghats in several towns in UP.

Officials of Bihar told in the meeting that 71 bodies were found in the state which came floating from UP, however, the UP officials did not release any data on the bodies found in river Ganga. Recently some videos have surfaced on the internet, which showed workers removing shrouds and bamboo poles used to mark graves in Prayagraj and Unnao, in UP.

Also read: PM Modi's rating falls due to 'ineffective handling' of Covid-19

Anand Kishore, Principal Secretary (Urban Development), Government of Bihar, told that the authorities have set up nets on the river banks to trap the bodies from the river.

The Chair further remarked that it may not be ruled out that such incidences of people dumping dead bodies in the rivers/ lakes/ ponds or other water bodies may be occurring in parts of other States/Union Territories in the country and therefore, it warrants to be flagged at the highest level so that the concerned authorities/local bodies/panchayats are instructed and/or sensitised to effectively utilise the infrastructure of crematoria/burial ground for cremation/burials of dead bodies instead of consigning/throwing them into rivers or other water bodies.