People bathe in the Ganges in an act of ritual purification, yet the 2,500 km river stretching from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal is full of industrial effluent and untreated sewage, its banks strewn with garbage.
Fifty more bodies were on Wednesday recovered from the river Ganga in Safipur area of the district even as sanitation workers of Nagar Palikas have refused to further take them out from the river.
So far 80 bodies have been taken out from the river near Pariyar ghat, District Magistrate Saumya Agarwal said.
Dogs, crows and vultures dug into bodies as they had reached the bank due to low water level, posing major environment challenges in the areas under Unnao District.
The body count is said to be more than 100.
The sanitation workers have refused to take out the bodies from the river as they are in a very bad shape, an officer said.
A team of doctors led by Chief Medical Officer Geeta Yadav is taking forensic sample of the bodies.
The DM said that as per the opinion of the doctors post mortem was not possible, instead sampling was being done for DNA testing.
She said that as bodies were still being recovered it was not possible to tell the exact number as of now.
Meanwhile, BJP alleged that the bodies were being buried with the help of JCB machine.
State president Laxmi Kant visited the spot last night and demanded proper cremation of the bodies after post mortem.
He also demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter.
IG (Law and Order) A Satish Ganesh had yesterday said that bodies which were ostensibly disposed of in the Ganga river as part of last rites by their kin, surfaced after the water receded near Pariyar ghat.
Till yesterday around 25-30 bodies were recovered.
"During preliminary investigation, local residents informed that instead of cremating the bodies of unmarried girls they are set adrift in the Ganga river," the IG had said.
"Most of the bodies were badly mutilated so it was difficult to ascertain their gender," he said.
People bathe in the Ganges in an act of ritual purification, yet the 2,500 km river stretching from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal is full of industrial effluent and untreated sewage, its banks strewn with garbage.
Previous attempts to clean up the river, including introducing flesh-eating turtles to devour the charred remains of the dead cremated on its banks, have failed due to a lack of planning or coordination.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, elected to represent the 3,000-year-old riverside city of Varanasi, has taken personal responsibility to clean up the river, as part of a broader push to husband the country's scarce water resources and improve standards of public health and hygiene.
(With ANI inputs)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}