Unnao: Bodies found floating in Ganga; administration denies charge

Several dead bodies were seen flowing in River Ganges. The water level in the river has been rising for the last three days, causing severe soil erosion. Hence, the bodies buried on the river banks are being washed away into the river, it is suspected.

Unnao (Uttar Pradesh): Bodies, most likely of those COVID-19 victims, were found floating in the Ganges at Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. Villagers, who have been spending sleepless nights due to this sight, alleged these bodies were buried en masse in the sand after the second wave of COVID-19 claimed thousands of lives in the Hindi heartland.

They said as water levels in the river have risen, sand from the banks is being washed away into the river. Thus the bodies buried in the vicinity, too, are being carried along by the water.

Despite videos clearly showing the bodies floating in the Ganges, the Unnao district administration has categorically denied any such incident. Dayashankar Pathak, sub-divisional magistrate, Bighapur, a tehsil in Unnao, said he inspected the river but did not find any corpses floating in it.

Earlier, it was widely reported that several bodies of COVID-19 victims were buried in Buxar Ghat on the banks of the River Ganges.

Several cases of bodies of COVID-19 victims in UP and Bihar either being thrown into River Ganga or buried on its banks were being reported throughout this month. The shocking visuals of dead bodies floating in the river have posed serious questions about UP and Bihar's COVID-19 management. The state governments are now trying to prevent the bodies from flowing into the river with limited success.