Bodies in Ganga: Bihar promises to remedy situation after Union Jal Shakti Ministry intervenes

Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 14

The Bihar government has promised to take remedial action over reports of corpses being dumped into the Ganges after the Union Jal Shakti Ministry's intervention.

Sources in the Ministry said on Friday that the District Magistrate of Buxar in Bihar told National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) about its measures to remedy the situation.

The district administration has asked police and civic governments to dispatch staff at crematoriums to ensure bodies are disposed of appropriately.

Also, measures have been taken to locate and fish out dead bodies in the river for proper disposal, and to ensure no corpse is dumped in it, sources said. Sorties by boats are being made in the river.

Besides, local authorities have been directed to raise awareness among elected representatives of local bodies, and involve them in the campaign.

Alarmed at reports of a large number of dead bodies found floating in the Ganges in Buxar and nearby Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh, the Ministry had taken up the matter with Chief Secretaries of the Ganga's basin states Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, and Jharkhand. The alarm was on account of suspicion that the dead bodies were related to COVID-19 infection. 

Director-General of NMCG Rajiv Ranjan Mishra in a letter to the Chief Secretaries had asked for a strict order to local authorities to stop the dumping of dead bodies in Ganga and its tributaries to prevent pollution.

The Ministry vide NMCG had also issued an advisory to these states.

The source said that water and crime are state subjects, and the Union Ministry could only appeal to state governments.