Bodies found buried in sand on banks of Ganga river in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao

Four days after dead bodies of suspected Covid19 patients were spotted floating on the Ganga river in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar reports have now shown that multiple bodies have been buried in sand at two locations along the Ganga river in Unnao districtVisuals from the two locations show buried bodies with locals looking on Incidentally most of the bodies were wrapped in a saffron clothHowever there was no confirmation if these bodies were of Covid19 patientsUnnao District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said Some people do not burn the bodies but bury them in the sand by the river After I got information I have sent officials to the spot I have asked them to carry out an enquiry and we will take actionThe bodies were mainly found buried at the Rautapur Ganga Ghat in Hajipur areaMeanwhile there is panic among the locals after it was found that bodies were being buried in sand on the banks of the riverShirish Gupta a local businessman said Monsoon is barely a month away and once the Ganga river becomes flooded with water these bodies will be washed ashore The district administration should exhume the bodies and perform a proper cremationOfficials were tight lipped on the suggestion It could create a lawandorder problem if we take out the bodies We will see what best can be done said a senior district officialAlso Read Pooja Bhatt You can fudge the data how do you hide the bodiesSources said that ever since the death toll in the ongoing pandemic began rising the prices of performing cremation have also shot upA package for cremation according to Hindu rites is now between Rs 15000 to 20000 It is obvious that poor people cannot afford it and they are opting for riverside burials said GuptaOn Tuesday the Bihar government had said that altogether 71 bodies have been fished out from the Ganges in Buxar district where these were found floating in the river triggering suspicion that the abandoned corpses could be those of Covid19 patientsState Water Resources Minister Sanjay Kumar a key aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar came out with a series of tweets asserting that the bodies had flown downstream from neighbouring Uttar PradeshThe Bihar government is seized of the matter of unfortunate case of floating mortal remains in river Ganga The bodies have floated into Bihar from UP said Jha adding doctors have confirmed upon postmortem that the deaths had taken place fourfive days agoHe said the chief minister was pained at both the tragedy as well as the harm to river Ganga13 The Bihar Government is seized of the matter of unfortunate case of floating mortal remains in river Ganga near Chausa village in Buxar district The bodies have floated into Bihar from UP Upon postmortem our doctors have confirmed that these are 45 days old bodiesmdash Sanjay Kumar Jha SanjayJhaBihar May 11 202123 Hon CM Shri NitishKumar is pained at both the tragedy as well as harm to the river Ganges He has always been particular about the purity and uninterrupted flow of the river and has asked administration to intensify patrolling to ensure this is not repeatedmdash Sanjay Kumar Jha SanjayJhaBihar May 11 202133 Last rites of 71 bodies performed as per protocols A net has been placed in Ganges in Ranighat bordering UP amp Bihar Weve advised UP administration to be vigilant our district admin is keeping vigil too Advise all to give all respect to those dead and Maa Gangesmdash Sanjay Kumar Jha SanjayJhaBihar May 11 2021A large number of bloated corpses were seen floating in the river bed in Chausa block of Buxar district on Monday triggering shock wavesThough some news channels claimed these were of Covid19 patients who might have been abandoned by resource starved family members or dumped by callous officials the local administration had strongly denied the same asserting that none of the deceased was a local resident and the bodies had flown downstream from adjoining UP districtsMeanwhile on Tuesday bodies were seen floating in the Ganga in Uttar Pradeshrsquos Ballia and Ghazipur districts according to local residents and the authoritiesAccording to Ballia residents at least 45 bodies were seen floating at the Ujiyar Kulhadia and Bharauli ghats in the Narahi areaHowever the district authorities did not reveal the exact number of bodies found thereBallia district magistrate Aditi Singh in a statement said ldquosome bodies in bad conditionrdquo were seen under the BalliaBuxar bridgeSuperintendent of police Vipin Tada said he did not know how many bodies were found ldquoThe bodies were old In Bihar there is a tradition of disposing of dead bodies in the riverrdquo he said adding that seeing the wind direction it seems the bodies came from BiharMeanwhile bodies were seen floating in Ghazipurrsquos Gahmar and Bara villages according to residents thereEarlier residents in UPrsquos Hamirpur district had spotted five bodies floating in the Yamuna creating a scare that these were of Covid19 patients an apprehension dismissed by the authoritiesldquoAfter speaking to people and looking at the bodies prima facie it can be said these were not of Covid19 patients as these were draped in a traditional manner and no body was wrapped as done in the case of Covid19 victimsrdquo Hamirpur district magistrate Gyaneshwar Tripathi had said in a statementWest Bengal ups Ganga vigil to block floating bodiesAfter a large number of bodies were fished out of Ganga in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the West Bengal government asked Malda district administration to step up vigil along the river for bodies found floating downstream and cremate them in keeping with protocolGanga enters West Bengal through Malda and so surveillance has been increased in the district to restrict the bodies from entering the stateAccording to senior government officials Ganga touches the state at Manikchawk block via Rajmahal in Jharkhand and so measures have been taken to stop the floating bodies near Manikchawk so that it doesnt reach Farakka barrageThe river in Manikchawk is wide and so we are trying to restrict it near Gadai island where the river is comparatively narrow Gadai island is little away from Manikchawk It will be easier for us to trace the floating bodies there a senior district state government official saidSeveral boats have been arranged near Gadai island of Manikchak block to inspect the Ganga from FridayPolice stations adjoining the river bank in Bhutni Manikchak Mothabari and Baishnabnagar have been alerted as also civil defence volunteersThe time of surveillance is yet to be finalized We are waiting for a nod from the DM We are announcing for people not to panicAs soon such a body is spotted it would be recovered and disposed of accordingly the DM saidWe are taking all measures but considering the present level and current of water in the Ganga we think the possibility is remote of bodies flowing in in the next 24 hours a senior administrative official at Manikchawk block saidWith inputs from agencies