Lucknow, May 25 (IANS): The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is now facing flak for removal of saffron shrouds from shallow buried bodies in sand on the banks of rivers in Prayagraj.

Sharing a video clip that showed workers pulling off saffron shrouds from the bodies buried in sand, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted: "They were not given treatment while they were alive, they did not get dignity in their death and did not find a place in the government data.

"Now shrouds are being ripped off their bodies. What kind of a cleanliness drive is this? This is showing disrespect to the dead, to the religion and to humanity."

The state government has come under severe criticism after a large number of bodies were found buried in shallow sand graves or washed up on the Ganga river banks in the state as peopke found it difficult to bear the expense of such cremation.

In Prayagraj, photos showed hundreds of bodies buried in the sand along the banks of Ganga as rain exposed shrouds. The discovery caused panic among people living in nearby areas as many complained that dogs were digging the graves and feeding on the bodies on river banks.

A drone footage, shot by a foreign news agency, showed hundreds of bodies, separated by bamboo sticks and covered with saffron cloth, buried along the banks in Prayagraj.

Adityanath has asked officials for continued patrolling by water police of the State Disaster Response Force and Provincial Armed Constabulary around all the rivers of the state and asked to ensure that the bodies were not disposed of in water under any condition.

To address the issue, the Uttar Pradesh government said it would take the help of religious leaders to create awareness among people not to dump bodies in the rivers.