Info not available on number of bodies dumped in Ganga during COVID-19 pandemic: Govt

Information is not available on the number of bodies estimated to have been dumped in the river Ganga during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government said on Monday.

Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu said the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) sought from the state governments concerned a report on the bodies found floating in the river and the action taken or contemplated for ensuring proper handling, management and disposal of bodies for ensuring the protection of Ganga.

"The information regarding the number of COVID-19-related bodies estimated to have been dumped in the river Ganga is not available," he said in a written response.

He also said that Rs 126 crore have been spent under the communication and public Outreach head, which includes media and publicity under the Namami Gange Programme.

In a recent book, former NMCG director general Rajiv Ranjan Mishra had said that according to the reports of district magistrates and panchayat committees, the number of bodies dumped into the Ganga during the second wave of COVID-19 was no more than 300.