Despite Floating Corpses, Research Finds No Trace Of COVID In Ganga

Research by the National Mission for Clean Ganga found no traces of Coronavirus in the waters of Ganga after dead bodies were taken out of the river in certain districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during the peak of the second wave of the pandemic.

The virological research extracted the RNA of coronavirus from the water samples. An RT-PCR test was conducted on it to determine the viral load. The study also took into consideration the biological characteristics of the river.

Samples Taken From Ten Places

The research was conducted in two phases, and the samples were taken from Allahabad, Balia, Buxar, Chhapra, Ghazipur, Hamirpur, Kannauj, Kanpur, Patna, Unnao, and Varanasi. People associated with the research said, "None of the samples collected had traces of SARS-CoV2," reported Hindustan Times.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga is a registered society whose General Body is chaired by the Jal Shakti Ministry under the Government of India. The research was conducted in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research's (CSIR's), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and the state pollution control boards.

Ganga: Swollen with Corpses

Uttar Pradesh was one of the worst-affected areas when the second wave of the pandemic was at its peak. A horror came to light on May 10, when 71 dead bodies washed up on the river bank near the state border in Chausa village, reported BBC.

Eventually, hundreds of corpses were discovered floating downstream or buried in the sand of the river banks. The people who lived nearby speculated that the corpses were of Covid-19 victims. Ganga is a primary source of drinking water for the population in the districts along its banks. So, there was a fear of whether the corpses had contaminated its water.

The bodies found in the river and on its banks, funeral pyres burning all day and night, and cremation grounds running out of space were the first hints of an unseen and unacknowledged death toll, which might be several times higher than the official data.

Also read: Weekly COVID Deaths Dip To Lowest Since October Globally: WHO