Row over admin removing cloth from bodies at ghats in UP’s Prayagraj

Multiple videos and photographs have emerged that purportedly show municipal workers pulling off yellow shrouds from unidentified graves at Shringverpur and other ghats in Prayagraj.

A cleanliness drive by the administration near the cremation ghats where hundreds of bodies were buried recently has given rise to allegations by locals of a clean-up done to contain bad press. But officials have rubbished these claims and called it a routine exercise to keep the ghats clean.

Relatives carry the body of a man for cremation after they, according to the relatives, were denied permission for his burial, past shallow sand graves of people, some of which are suspected to have died from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), on the banks of the river Ganga. (Reuters)

Multiple videos and photographs have emerged that purportedly show municipal workers pulling off yellow shrouds from unidentified graves at Shringverpur and other ghats in Prayagraj. Photos and videos of these shallow graves on the sand banks of Ganga and Yamuna rivers, and of dogs feeding on the bodies, had gone viral on social media, and made international headlines. Many of these bodies were suspected to be of people who had died of Covid, and whose family members didn’t have the money to cremate them.

At Shringverpur, locals claimed, government officials had been inspecting the ghat for the last few days. “On Monday, dozens of labourers were engaged to remove the shrouds from the graves along with the bamboo stumps used for separation. These were collected along with other items scattered on the sand and burnt at another spot,” said a local on condition of anonymity.

A similar exercise was carried out at Phaphamau Ghat too, locals said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday targeted the UP government by tweeting a cleaning video from Prayagraj. In an accompanying message in Hindi, she said, “No treatment was received when they were living. Many even did not receive the honour of proper last rites. They did not even find a place in government data. Now, even Ramnami (sacred shroud) are being snatched from the graves. What cleaning drive is this? This is disrespect — of the dead, of the religion, of humanity.”

However, Prayagraj mayor Abhilasha Gupta denied these allegations, saying that the cleanliness drive at cremation ghats was an ongoing exercise.

“The nagar nigam (municipal body) is carrying out a cleanliness drive at all cremation ghats, which come under its jurisdiction. Shrouds and other clothes were already blown away during a storm, which lashed the region a few days ago. Old blankets, pillows, sheets, water bottles and polythene found scattered at the ghats were removed,” the mayor said, adding that traders and residents have been asked to maintain cleanliness at the ghats and keep dustbins.