Dikhyaa Mohanty 
After hundreds of corpses were spotted floating in the Ganga in Bihar and UP, more bodies have been found buried in the sand on the banks of the river in UP’s Prayagraj.
After the discovery has caused panic among people living in nearby areas as for the last 2-3 months, people have been burying their dead. Sand covering the bodies is blown away by strong winds, exposing the decomposing bodies. Predatory birds and dogs feast gather and feast on the remains.
Due to the burial people have expressed their concern that the corpses can spread more diseases. Especially during this pandemic, as this can spread more diseases to people and worsen the situation. Many are poor and do not have the resources for a proper burial.
With this horrific incident, locals voiced concerns that the sanctity of the holy river is being compromised, as devotees have stopped taking holy baths due to the foul smell that has worsened over the days.
Even similar scenes were witnessed in UP’s Unnao district, after which a team of the local police carried out an inquiry to find more bodies. In the last week, Ghazipur and Bihar’s Buxar too have seen grim incidents of bloated, decomposing bodies floating in the river. Many washed up on the shores while some were pulled up by stray dogs.
While it remains unconfirmed if the bodies in Prayagaraj are of COVID-19 patients, nearby residents have said such scenes have never been witnessed before and only started with the second COVID wave.
As per the union health ministry, there are currently 1,93,815 active COVID-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh. A total of 13,85,855 patients have recovered so far and 16,957 deaths have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic.
Image Source – Google
