New Delhi

A petition was filed in the Supreme Court for an immediate removal of the human bodies floating in the Ganga and other rivers and give them dignified cremation or burial as per the rituals, claiming these were the bodies of Covid-19 victims whose families did not have the resources for their disposal.

The Youth Bar Association of India has sought directions to the Centre and four states of UP, Bihar, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, to issue guidelines or formulate a standard operating procedure for bodies’ disposal.

The plea through advocate Manju Jaitley says floating of corpses in the river would cause environmental hazards besides violation of the rules of National Mission for Clean Ganga. It sought directions to chief secretaries and district magistrates to ensure no copse is allowed to be thrown in the river on any ground and stern action be taken against the culprits.