The National Human Rights Commission on Thursday issued notices to the Central, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar governments on a complaint about bodies found floating in the Ganga in the past few days.
Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, there are apprehensions the bodies found floating in Bihar were of COVID-19 fatalities from Uttar Pradesh.
The NHRC issued notices to the chief secretaries of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and the secretary of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation of the Jal Shakti Ministry, calling for reports within four weeks.
The NHRC observed that the public authorities failed to take concerted efforts in educating people and preventing the immersion of bodies into the Ganga.
“The practice of disposal of dead bodies in our sacred river Ganga is clearly in violation of guidelines of the National Mission for Clean Ganga project of Ministry of Jal Shakti,” the NHRC said.
The complainant in the matter expressed apprehensions that these bodies were of COVID-19 victims and hence were disposed of in such a manner, it said. The complaint further said that if the bodies were not of those affected by COVID-19, the incidents were shameful to society and amounted to a violation of the rights of the deceased.
