There is no information available regarding the number of dead bodies that were dumped in the river Ganga during the peak of the deadly second COVID-19 wave, the government said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, 7 February.
Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu said the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) had sought a report from the concerned state governments on the bodies found floating in the river and the action taken or contemplated for ensuring proper handling, management, and disposal of the bodies for ensuring the protection of the river.
He said in a written response, "The information regarding the number of COVID-19-related bodies estimated to have been dumped in the river Ganga is not available,” news agency PTI reported.
Tudu was responding to a question from Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien, who had sought information on the steps taken to dispose of the bodies in accordance with COVID-19 protocols.
Hitting out at the government's response, Congress senior leader KC Venugopal said that the reply was almost identical to that provided to questions about deaths due to oxygen shortage.
Venugopal told NDTV, "The government is misleading the Parliament. It is the same reply... I got the same reply when I asked how many deaths had happened because of oxygen shortage.”
The Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD’s) Manoj Jha stated, "There cannot be a more insensitive and indecent answer than this."
Meanwhile, Bishweswar Tudu added 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, PTI reported.
(With inputs from PTI and NDTV.)
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