COVID-19 surge: 71 bodies of suspected COVID victims retrieved from Ganga, buried in Bihar

A day after a number of bodies of suspected COVID-19 victims had been discovered washed up alongside the banks of the Ganga at Mahadeo ghat in Chausa in Bihar, 71 of them had been retrieved and disposed of by the district administration after autopsy on Tuesday. Tissue and different samples have additionally been preserved.

“We retrieved 71 dead bodies and disposed them after post-mortem. DNA samples has been preserved. The district administration is on alert to prevent such incidents in future. Officials have been directed to be vigilant and patrol the banks of the river,” a launch issued by the Buxar district administration mentioned on Tuesday.

The launch additionally mentioned that there was “sufficient fire wood at the Chausa cremation ground for funerals”. The clarification got here allegations from villagers that the excessive value of firewood had led to many households jettisoning bodies in the river quite than cremating them.

Earlier, the Buxar Superintendent of Police Neeraj Kumar Singh additionally had advised The Puucho that 71 lifeless bodies had been retrieved from the river and “post-mortems were done at the ghat (bank) itself as they were highly decomposed” .

Ram Ashray Yadav, who sells firewood for cremations on the Mahadeo ghat (financial institution) at Chausa, mentioned, “most of the bodies were buried in a large pit dug up by a JCB machine on the bank of the river.”

“The district administration has made arrangement of a generator for power supply at the ghat (river bank) and deputed an official here. Earlier, the district administration officials were seen at the ghat till late on Monday night working by the light of torches and mobiles,” (*71*). Yadav advised The Puucho over cellphone.

Asked what number of lifeless bodies had been buried, he mentioned, “It was very difficult to count.”

“But, now no bodies are seen in the river water at the ghat,” he added.

Earlier, district officers had mentioned the bodies discovered floating in river Ganga can be cremated with dignity by the federal government.

On Monday, a number of bodies had been discovered floating in the Ganga at Mahadeo ghat in Chausa of Buxar in Bihar. Buxar shares its border with districts of japanese Uttar Pradesh. The district officers had mentioned the bodies may need floated in from japanese Uttar Pradesh like Varanasi and Allahabad.

“The dead bodies were bloated. They seemed to be in the water for at least 5-7 days. It needs to be investigated from where they’ve come. They could be from Varanasi or Allahabad of UP”, senior official of the district K K Upadhayay had advised media individuals. Videos of bloated lifeless bodies had additionally gone viral on social media sparking outrage and shock amongst villagers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Jal Shakti and MP from Jodhpur Gajendra Singh Shekhawat posted a tweet tagging the chief ministers of each Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — Nitish Kumar and Yogi Adityanath — to take instant cognizance of such incidents.

“The incident of dead bodies found floating in river Ganga in Bihar’s Buxar area is unfortunate. This is certainly an issue of investigation. The Modi (PM Narendra Modi) government is committed to Mother Ganga’s purity and free flow. This incident is unexpected. The concerned States should take immediate cognisance of it,” tweeted (*71*) Shekhawat in Hindi.