Kolkata: After shocking images of alleged COVID-19 bodies being dumped in the Ganga river surfaced amid the raging second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that several of those corpses have floated to the state downstream river Ganga from Uttar Pradesh. She pointed out that the decomposed bodies were spotted polluting the waters in Malda district, and the state government has “performed the last rites of some of them”.
“Several bodies likely to be infected with COVID have floated downstream to West Bengal from Uttar Pradesh. In Malda, we have spotted quite a few bodies. River water is getting polluted. We are pulling out the bodies from the river. We performed the last rites of some of them with due respect,” Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata.
River Ganga flows through the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal before finally meeting the Bay of Bengal.
A number of bloated corpses were spotted floating in the river in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar during the second wave of the pandemic, sparking panic among locals who depend on the Ganga for agricultural purposes and other basic needs.
Authorities believe the relatives of those who succumbed to the COVID-19, may not have been able to find space or afford the last rites and had dumped them into the river.
The Centre had last month directed authorities in these states to prevent the disposal of bodies in the river.
With inputs from Agencies