Shallow graves on Ganga bank in UP

UNNAO Several bodies were buried in shallow graves along the banks of the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district in the last three weeks, said local villagers, expressing fear that rising tide can inundate the site and wash the corpses downstream.

Over the past week, scores of dead bodies have been fished out of the Ganga in UP’S Ghazipur and Ballia districts, and Bihar’s Buxar district. Local administration suspect the bodies could belong to Covid patients but testing is difficult because the corpses are decomposed.

In Baksar village of rural Unnao, locals said the bodies belonged to young and unmarried people, who aren’t cremated according to Hindu traditions, but added that the number of burials spiked in recent weeks. The graves are about three foot deep, they added.

“At present, 10 to 12 bodies are being cremated at the ghat everyday. Earlier, one or two bodies used to be brought here. The number rose during panchayat elections. I helped with cremation of 20 to 25 bodies in a day. I never saw such a large number of bodies,” said Babloo Panda, who performs last rites.

“Those who are not in a position to pay for the cremation at the ghat, bury their young ones along the river bank,” he added. The four-phase panchayat polls, between April 16 and 29, has been blamed by the Allahabad high court and health experts, for accelerating the Covid-19 pandemic in the hinterlands.

When asked about the largescale burials, sub-divisional magistrate of Bighapur, Daya Prakash Pandey, said he was unaware about it. “We will look into the matter,” he added. District magistrate Ravindra Kumar was not available despite repeated attempts.

There was no confirmation if any of the bodies belonged to Covid patients. The nearest Covid testing facility is 50 km away.

Visuals showed dozens of graves on the banks and in mound in middle of the river. Locals said people started burying bodies on mounds in the middle of the river after space became limited on the banks.

“Every day, 100 to 150 bodies were being buried. But the number has gone down in the past few days,” said Ram Badan, representative of Baksar gram pradhan Ram Prasad Chaurasia. “The administration must step in immediately for proper burial of bodies,” he added.

Other villagers said even elderly people were buried near the river because the lone cremation site was overwhelmed with deaths. “Priests at the cremation ghat in the village refused to perform last rites as they were not prepared to deal with huge influx of bodies,” said Shiv Kumar, a villager.