Burials along river banned in Unnao
Many new graves found on Kanpur side of Ganga in Khereshwar
KANPUR: Burials close to the river were prohibited in Unnao district a day after many bodies were discovered in shallow graves along the Ganga.
Bodies would be cremated in the traditional way and, in case anyone did not have the money to buy wood, it would be provided for free, said Unnao district magistrate Ravindra Kumar. While the Unnao administration has deployed special teams at ghats and riverbeds, dozens of graves were found on the Kanpur side of Ganga in Khereshwar, Bilhaur, 60 kilometres west of Kanpur.
Similar graves were seen in Shivrajpur and Chaubeypur— both close to the Ganga. Locals have said the graves came up during the past four weeks. The riverbeds were never used for burials, said Piyush Mishra, a former village pradhan.
In Unnao, the officials visited the Rautapur ghat in Buxar and had shrouds covering the 175 graves on the islet in the middle of the river alone. Some 400 shrouds would be removed on Friday, said sub-divisional magistrate (Bighapur) Daya Shankar Pandey.
In order to prevent the bodies being washed away whenever the river rises, efforts were being made to increase the depth of graves to six feet, said the officials. Kumar, however, stated the bodies would not be shifted as was being stated said the morning.
“How can we do that? We cannot hurt the sentiments of people who have buried their loved ones for whatever the reasons were,” he said.
It has been decided the burial
TO PREVENT THE BODIES BEING WASHED AWAY WHEN THE RIVER RISES, EFFORTS WERE BEING MADE TO INCREASE THE DEPTH OF GRAVES, SAID OFFICIALS
would not be allowed from now on and people would be encouraged to consign the bodies to flames. “Anyone not able to afford the cost of wood will be given for free,” he said.
An inquiry has also been ordered by SDM Pandey into the mass burial and how it went unnoticed for this long, the officials said on condition of anonymity.
Pandey, who was expressing ignorance about the grave till Wednesday night, was on Thursday embroiled in a jurisdiction dispute with his counterpart in the adjoining Fatehpur district.
Unnao officials were adamant that a major part of the Rautapur ghat fell in the Bindki area of Fatehpur. A map was placed for the officials to settle the dispute. The Buxar in Unnao has its borders with three districts.
Kanpur district magistrate Alok Tiwari, who led health workers to villages to examine people, was not available for his comment on dozens of graves found on the Kanpur side. In Khereshwar alone, more than 50 shallow graves were visible.
PPE kits, body bags found
A large number of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and body bags were found dumped around the graves in Rautapur, Buxar (Unnao). While the officials were tightlipped, the villagers alleged the deaths were the result of Covid-19 infection, which spread in the villages during the panchayat elections.
Shyamlal of Rautapur said he informed the local police about the mass burial, but nothing was done.
The PPE kits and body bags found at the cremation site, particularly dumped in small holes near the graves, had put the officials in a spot as they were not able to explain where these came from. District magistrate Ravindra Kumar said it was being inquired into separately by senior officials. “We would get to the bottom of this and initiate stern action,” he said.