Priyanka Gandhi seeks judicial enquiry into bodies found floating in Ganga in UP, Bihar

Priyanka Gandhi also alleged that while the government is busy in image-building, people are suffering unimaginably.

As Bihar and Uttar Pradesh keep a close watch on river Ganga to trace floating dead bodies that have triggered panic in the bordering states over the past few days, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today called for a judicial inquiry into such incidents. Priyanka claimed that official death figures were being grossly under-reported by both states. “Bodies are floating in the Ganga in Ballia and Ghazipur. Reports are coming in of mass burials on the banks of the river in Unnao. Official numbers from cities like Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Kanpur appear to be grossly under-reported,” she said.

Priyanka Gandhi also alleged that while the government is busy in image-building, people are suffering unimaginably. “What is happening in Uttar Pradesh is inhuman and criminal. The government is busy image building while people are suffering unimaginably. There must be an immediate judicial enquiry headed by a high court judge into these events,” she said.

https://twitter.com/priyankagandhi/status/1392761666526273537

Notably, over 100 bodies have been recovered from the Ganga river in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, most of them badly decomposed. While most of the bodies were found from Buxar in Bihar and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, some bodies were recovered today near Patna.

“Several bodies including a body of a child have been found floating in the river Ganga. We are keeping a check to ensure that bodies are not dumped in the river in our district,” said Dr. Chandrashekhar Singh, District Magistrate, Patna.

Buxar DM Aman Samir had said that patrolling to be done on river Ganga from Buxar’s Chausa to Nainijor and police officers to be stationed 24 hours at cremation sites on the river banks to prevent any dumping of bodies in Ganga. On May 10, around 12 corpses were fished out from Ganga in Buxar.

Some more bodies were found buried in the sand in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh yesterday.

The incidents have triggered panic among residents of these areas as they fear the bodies may be of COVID-19 victims. The contamination of Ganga water in view of the discoveries has added to the worries of the residents of towns on thye banks of the holy river.