Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 14

Two more bodies found lying on the banks of the Ganga were cremated by the Ballia district administration in UP after a video of stray dogs mauling the corpses went viral on social media.

Ballia residents claimed to have seen 52 bodies at Ujiyar, Kulhadia and Bharauli ghats. With bodies found floating in the Ganga in UP and Bihar, the West Bengal Government has asked officials in Malda to maintain a vigil at the river’s entry point.

Numbers grossly under-reported

Reports are coming of mass burials on the banks of the river in Unnao. Official numbers from Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Kanpur appear grossly under-reported. — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Cong gen secy

District authorities in UP and Bihar have been put on the alert after a nudge by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and a notice by the NHRC. The UP Government has ordered the authorities to fine those throwing bodies into the Ganga. State CM Yogi Adityanath has ordered patrolling by the SDRF and PAC. Sources said, “Deployment of the SDRF and PAC teams will help in keeping a check on such incidents.”