Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 7: The Center said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday that there is no information on the number of dead bodies found floating on the Ganga during the peak of the second Covid wave.
“Information regarding number of COVID-19 related dead bodies estimated to have been dumped in the river Ganga is not available,” Junior Jal Shakti Minister Bishweswar Tudu said.
The revelation came in answer to an inquiry from Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien, who also wanted to know how the bodies were disposed of according to Covid standards.
“Unclaimed/unidentified, charred/partially burnt dead bodies” had been found on the river or its banks, according to the minister, and cases had been recorded from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar regions.
He further stated that the ministry (through the National Mission for Clean Ganga) had requested a report from the individual state governments on the bodies and actions taken, including disposal.
According to him, advisories were also sent to the chief secretaries of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Bengal.
The government’s response was slammed by the Congress, with senior leader KC Venugopal pointing out that the present response was nearly identical to that given in response to inquiries regarding mortality caused by a lack of oxygen.
Other opposition leaders were equally harsh, with Mr. O’Brien’s colleague accusing the government of committing “state-sponsored terrorism.” “”Lying” and “Hiding Facts” are two terms that come to mind.
Images of dead bodies floating on the Ganges were widely circulated in the media… The administration should inform Parliament of the number of bodies thrown. The administration is concealing information… this is anti-democratic and an insult to Parliament “Sukhendu Sekhar Roy of the Trinamool Congress remarked.
Notably, hundreds of bodies began washing up along the Ganga’s banks in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during the second wave, when between 3,000 and 4,000 Covid-related deaths were documented (officially) everyday.
The bodies were thought to be those of Covid victims from remote areas, where villagers, frightened of the virus spreading further, dumped the dead in the river due to a lack of regulations.
