Keep tabs on riverine areas for people dumping bodies: Adityanath tells cops

Noida: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday asked the police and provincial armed constabulary (PAC) jawans to keep strict vigil on the last rites of bodies in their areas so as to ensure bodies are not be found disposed of in or near rivers in the state

Noida: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday asked the police and provincial armed constabulary (PAC) jawans to keep strict vigil on the last rites of bodies in their areas so as to ensure bodies are not be found disposed of in or near rivers in the state.

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Addressing the press at the NTPC Institute in Noida’s Sector 16A, Adityanath said Sunday that even village-level officials have been asked to ensure that no corpses are thrown in the waters. “As per our policy, the state government is paying ₹5,000 to each poor family to cremate or bury the bodies. The police and PAC jawans have been asked to intensify patrolling in the riverine areas to stop this inhumane practice, in which families are reportedly abandoning the dead bodies for fear of Covid-19,” he said.

The CM’s statement came in the light of media reports that several bodies of possible Covid victims were found in or near rivers in the state.

On reports of exorbitant prices allegedly being charged by private hospitals from Covid patients, the chief minister asked the Gautam Budh Nagar administration to take stern actions against anyone found doing so. “The admin has also been asked to arrange separate hospitals for the free treatment of women and children. At the same time, the admin has been asked to take a tough stand in enforcing the Covid curfew as it is the only way to break the virus’ chain,” he said.

Earlier, meeting with the MLAs and the MP of the district, the CM said that oxygen consumption at private hospitals will be audited. “The districts must have a Covid team on the lines of the state, which can keep a constant tab on the situation. Every vaccination centre should also have a call centre that can intimate the beneficiaries on time about their slots,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Jewar, Dhitendra Singh, requested the CM to give priority to local residents in vaccination and hospitalisation. “It is really heart-breaking that even those, who had given their ancestral land for the construction of the hospitals, are running pillar to post,” he said.