Amid the Covid surge that is wreaking havoc across India, the administration in Bihar's Buxar district on Monday found at least 45 dead bodies, most in a decomposed stage, in the Ganga, and claimed they had been thrown into the river in upstream Uttar Pradesh.
We were alerted by the local chowkidar that many bodies have been spotted floating from upstream. We have so far recovered 15 of these. None of the deceased happens to be a resident of the district," Chausa BDO Ashok Kumar told PTI over phone.
He said "many Uttar Pradesh districts are situated right across the river and the bodies may have been dumped in the Ganges for reasons not known to us. We cannot confirm whether the deceased were indeed COVID 19 positive. The bodies have started decomposing. But we are taking all precautions while ensuring that these are disposed of in a decent manner".
Some news channels claimed the number of bodies to be as high as 100, which the BDO dismissed as "highly exaggerated".
Many local residents, who spoke before cameras with their faces masked, claimed that the district administration was "in denial over many such unfortunate incidents involving residents of Buxar".
They alleged that those manning cremation ghats were charging a fortune whenever people reached there with the body of a near and dear one who died of the coronavirus.
"There is also a shortage of wood and other material required for cremation. Availability of these has taken a hit because of the lockdown. So many bereaved family members are impelled to immerse the bodies of their departed relatives in the river," one of the residents said.
Often family members of a COVID victim are not handed over the body by the administration which claims it would perform the last rites observing the protocol in place for the deadly virus, another local stated.
"What indeed happens is that the officials develop cold feet later and fearing that they might catch the infection themselves, they dump the bodies in the river and flee. Little do they realize that they are also polluting the river," he added.
Buxar SDO K.K. Upadhyay said: "During preliminary investigation, it has appeared that the dead bodies are in decomposed state and more than 5 to 6 days old. We are interacting with our counterparts in Varanasi and Allahabad (Prayagraj) to investigate the incident and intensify vigil in the areas located on the banks of the Ganga."
Despite the district administration of disposal of dead bodies is underway in a proper manner, the situation in Mahadev Ghat is extremely shocking, with the dead bodies flowing in the river being torn apart from street dogs and vultures.
Anjoria Devi, the wife of the Dom Raja of Mahadev Ghat in Chausa, alleged that relatives of the deceased are also coming to the Ghat and throwing the dead bodies into the Ganga without cremation.
"Around 10 dead bodies are being thrown in every day. When they were asked not to do so, they assault us. They also argue who would bear the expenses of cremation," she told reporters.
Soon after the news broke out, Twitter slammed the Bihar and UP government for their failure to provide better healthcare facility and crematoriums.
A Twitter user said, "Apocalyptic scenes of reported COVID infected bodies floating in the Ganga!"
Another said, "the municipal corporation of bihar is so bad. so many people use the direct water from ganga and other rivers where water of Ganga flows. even medical facility of bihar ain't that good. praying for safety of everyone."
