Cremation grounds along Ganga banks project moving at a snail’s pace

LUCKNOW : Chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s proposal to construct crematoriums in areas along the Ganga banks to check unorganised cremation of bodies announced last year is yet to be fully implemented.

While launching the Ganga Yatra from Bijnor district on January 27, 2020, the CM had announced several development plans for areas of 27 districts along 1,358 km stretch of the river Ganga. Construction of cremation grounds was part of this plan.

The urban development and panchayat raj departments were tasked with the job to complete this project. “In the past 15 months, only 20 percent of the work could be completed against the target,” said an official of the panchayat raj department.

In the previous Samajwadi Party government too, a provision of Rs 13.23 lakh per cremation ground in areas along the Ganga was made. Later, this was revised to Rs 24 lakh per cremation ground.

Manoj Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, panchayat raj, has issued instructions to earmark cremation grounds for Covid and non-Covid bodies in villages. Singh has also assured that the state government will make all arrangements for cremation of bodies if family members of the dead are unable to do so due to financial constraints.

In Awadh and eastern region of Uttar Pradesh, there is a tradition of giving ‘river burial’ (Jal Samadhi) to unmarried people in some communities.

“Recovery of large number of bodies from the Ganga can also be attributed to this tradition. Earlier, this was a rarity. But amid the pandemic, large number of deaths have taken place,” said lawyer and social activist Kaushlendra Singh who is based in Nanpara in Bahraich district.

“In this pandemic, many young people have died and their bodies have been given river burial as per the tradition,” he claimed.