Early rain showers risk washing away bodies into Ganga

PRAYAGRAJ: Earlier-than-expected rain in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj district and rising river levels are fast eroding chunks of the Ganga bank and threatening to sweep into the river hundreds of bodies buried in the sand, local officials said on Wednesday.

The Prayagraj administration decided to cremate the bodies to prevent them from floating downstream. Till now, officials cremated at least 24 bodies, including three on Wednesday, in just one ghat, Phaphamau, in Prayagraj. Bodies were buried near four other ghats in the city, including Jhunsi and Daraganj.

Another 60 to 70 bodies are on the verge of getting washed away, said residents. Zonal officer Neeraj Singh said he was cremating bodies getting exposed everyday by the erosion. “I don’t know any of the deceased. But it is my responsibility to follow the rituals of last rites. I light the pyre... considering ‘them’ as my own family members,” said Singh.

During the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday evening, the city received 69.6mm of rainfall. On Monday, the city received 37mm of rainfall. “For the past around two decades, the monsoon was arriving by late June or first week of July. But here we are witnessing an early arrival of the monsoon”, said former head of the department of Geography at Allahabad University, Savindra Singh.

The Ganga water level also started rising around two weeks ago due to weather pattern changes caused by cyclones Tauktae and Yaas. “The erosion of the riverbanks is mainly due to the Ganga water’s changing course and current,” said executive engineer of the flood control unit, Brijesh Kumar Verma.

Hundreds of bodies were found buried in shallow graves on the banks of Ganga in Prayagraj last month, sparking concern. Many bodies were too decomposed to test for Covid but residents said the number of people burying bodies was many times higher than previous years.

The discovery of the bodies coincided with the devastating second wave of Covid-19. Roughly 100 bodies were discovered floating in the river downstream in Ballia and Ghazipur in UP and Buxar in Bihar.

Fearing infection, the government discouraged such burials and started disbursing money for funerals. “We have been keeping a close watch on the ghats because of which no one is burying the dead,” said PK Mishra, public relations officer of PMC.

Senior Allahabad high court lawyer Arun Kumar Gupta said the administration needed to expand its vigil. “With the monsoon season on, the coming days would require 24x7 vigil on the riverbanks,” warned Gupta.