Allahabad: The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh has come under severe criticism after a large number of bodies were found buried in shallow sand graves or washed up on the Ganges river banks in the state. In Prayagraj’s Sangam area, photos showed hundreds of bodies buried in the sand along the banks of Ganga as rain exposed shrouds. The discovery caused panic among people living in nearby areas as many complained that dogs were digging the graves and feeding on the bodies on river banks.

The government was widely criticised after drone footage, shot by Reuters, showed hundreds of bodies, separated by bamboo sticks and covered with saffron cloth, buried along the banks in Prayagraj. Amid mounting criticism, the Prayagraj municipal corporation deployed a team on the banks of Ganga in the Sangam area to cover the bodies after scores of corpses covered with saffron shrouds were exposed due to rain. Bamboo sticks used to demarcate the bodies buried in the sand were also removed.
The civic body workers covered bodies with sand again at cremation ghats in Prayagraj. Those who have a tradition of burying the dead have been assigned a separate place. Also, adequate arrangement of timber has been made at cremation sites to prevent the burial of the deceased along the banks of Ganga, officials said.

CM Adityanath, meanwhile, asked officials for continued patrolling by water police of the State Disaster Response Force and Provincial Armed Constabulary around all the rivers of the state and asked to ensure that the bodies were not disposed of in water under any condition. Despite the government ordering people not to bury the dead in the sand along the banks of Ganga, many can still be seen disposing of bodies under similar circumstances. To address the issue, the Uttar Pradesh government said it would take the help of religious leaders to create awareness among people not to dump bodies in the rivers.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also instructed officials that the process of burial on the banks of rivers or disposing of bodies in rivers as part of the last rite was not environment-friendly. The chief minister stressed the last rites should be respectfully performed and financial assistance was also being provided for it, the spokesperson said. There should be a dialogue with the religious leaders in this regard as there is a need to make people aware of it, an official said. Even in the case of bodies being left unclaimed, the last rites should be performed according to religious beliefs, Adityanath said.

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