COVID-19 death surge hampers fish sales in Patna

Patna (Bihar) [India], May 19 (ANI): Ever since the dead bodies of suspected Covid patients have been found in the Ganga River, the sale of river fish has dipped in the city.
So far we have lost Rs 50,000. For the last 15 days, the sales have been reduced. No one is buying fishes because of fear. We demand from the government to increase the time for selling fish and also provide us some benefit so that we can run our family," said Anil Shani, a fisherman.
He further said when no one takes the fish, they put it back in the river.
While speaking to ANI, a customer, Maqbool Ahmad from Sabzibagh said we are only buying small fishes because we think that they will not harm us.
"Before buying any fish we ask the fisherman where did they bring these fishes from. Ganga water is not clean these days and dead bodies are floating in the river that's why we are not eating fishes bought from Ganga," said Ahmad.
He further urged the administration to clean the Ganga as soon as possible.
Another customer Vivek also said that he will first ask the fish seller from where did he source this fish because the situation of the Ganga river is very bad.
"People are afraid after seeing dead bodies in Ganga river and that is why we are avoiding big fishes these days. I came here to buy small fishes because they are bought from small ponds," said another buyer from the market.
Another fish seller said that people are not buying fish because of the fear of getting infected after consuming fish and the reduction in shopping hours has also resulted in a decline in sales.
Last week, around a dozen of corpses, was spotted in the Ganga in Bihar's Buxar.
"10 to 12 corpses that were seen in Ganga came floating from a distance. It seems these corpses were floating for the last five to seven days. We do not have a tradition of immersing bodies in rivers. We are making arrangements to cremate these corpses," said KK Upadhyay, Buxar Sub Divisional Officer (SDO).
Incidents such as these have sparked fears about the scale of the Covid crisis in the country, especially in rural areas. Authorities believe the relatives of those who succumbed to the virus, may not have been able to find space for the last rites. (ANI)