Will ensure all unidentified bodies found near Ganga are disposed as per protocol: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said that National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) and district authorities will ensure all unidentified bodies found near Ganga are disposed of as per the protocol.

"We have taken serious note of the issue of dumping dead bodies in River Ganga and instituted measures for the prohibition of the same," he added.

People were shocked as pictures of bloated bodies at Mahadev Ghat in Bihar's Buxar district flooded social media on Monday. With the states blaming each other, the Bihar administration said the bodies were from Uttar Pradesh.

In another shocking incident, a day after dozens of bodies, bloated and in various stages of decay, washed up on Monday on the banks of the Ganga in Chausa block of Bihar's Buxar district, similar sightings were reported on the banks of the river in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh.

The bodies were suspected to be those of Covid-19 patients who were dumped in the river, revealing the scale of Covid emergency in India.

The locals have said that it is a common sight nowadays as people have started immersing the bodies of their relatives into the river as the overwhelmed crematoriums, handling a number of bodies every day, are running out of firewood.