Patna: People of Chausa town in Bihar- UP border had the shock of their lives after they saw dozens of bodies floating in Ganga river that passes by the town. Bodies started piling up at the banks of the river, leaving the people panic-stricken.
Read more The local administration believes the bodies floated down from Uttar Pradesh and belong to COVID patients whose relatives may have been unable to find space to cremate or bury them.
Chausa district official Ashok Kumar said that some 40-45 bodies were seen floating, standing at the site of Mahadeva Ghat in Chausa. He said that the bodies seem to have been thrown into the river. By some accounts, there could be closer to 100 bodies.
Another official, KK Upadhyay said they are bloated and have been in the water for at least five to seven days. The officers are disposing of the bodies, need to investigate where they are from, which town in UP - Bahraich or Varanasi or Allahabad.
Read more"The bodies are not from here as we don't have a tradition of disposing of bodies in the river," Upadhyay added.
There is panic in the town and others nearby about infection from the bodies and from the river water. Dogs were seen wading near the bodies, an image that played into fears of an explosion in COVID cases. A villager said that people are terrified of getting COVID and they have to bury the bodies.
Sources said that a district administration official came and said they would pay Rs. 500 for cleaning up the bodies, as the bodies have led to a blame-game between UP and Bihar.
On Saturday, several partially burnt bodies were also seen floating in the Yamuna at Hamirpur town.
Meanwhile, India has reported 3,66,161 new cases, 3,53,818 discharges, and 3,754 deaths in the last 24 hours. 14,74,606 samples were tested, as per the Health Ministry data.