Now, bodies found floating on Ganga in UP’s Ghazipur

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 11

A day after dozens of bodies, in various stages of decay, were found floating near the Ganga ghats in Chausa block of Bihar’s Buxar district, a similar occurrence was witnessed on the banks of the river in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.

Edit: Corpses on Ganga

71 retrieved in buxar

• The Buxar administration on Tuesday confirmed it retrieved bodies of 71 suspected Covid victims from the Ganga
• The bodies were ‘respectfully disposed of’ after collecting DNA samples, officials said

The bodies are suspected to be of Covid-19 patients who were dumped in the river, revealing the scale of Covid crisis in the country.

District Magistrate of Ghazipur MP Singh is reported to have said that an investigation has been initiated to figure out where the bodies have come from. “Our officers are present on the spot and an investigation is underway. We are trying to find out where they have come from,” Singh said.

Officials in the Ghazipur district administration, however, refused to confirm the number of bodies found.

Locals, however, said it was a common sight to see people immersing bodies of their dead relatives in the river as the overloaded crematoriums were running out of firewood amid the surge in Covid cases.

Meanwhile, the Buxar district administration today confirmed that it had retrieved the bodies of 71 suspected Covid-19 victims found floating in the Ganga at Chausa block. All the bodies were “respectfully disposed of” after their DNA samples were taken for further investigation, said officials. SP Neeraj Kumar Singh told

The Tribune over phone that the post-mortems were conducted at the ghat itself as the bodies were highly decomposed.

An administrative officer in the district, on condition of anonymity, said: “The autopsies of the highly decomposed and bloated bodies could not establish the cause of deaths.”

Reacting to the development, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the incident was “unfortunate” and asked the states (UP and Bihar) concerned to take immediate cognisance.

“The incident of corpses found floating in Ganga in Buxar region of Bihar is unfortunate. This is definitely a matter of investigation. The Modi government is committed to the cleanliness of ‘mother’ Ganga. This incident is unexpected. The states concerned should take immediate cognisance in this regard,” the Union Minister said in one of his Twitter posts.

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