A month following the Centre mandated study was carried out on the Ganga River to assess the presence of novel coronavirus following bodies had been fished out of the river in some districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the researchers have concluded that no traces of SARS-CoV-2 was identified in the samples collected from the river.
The study was carried out in two phases in which samples had been collected from a variety of districts of UP and Bihar like Varanasi, Kanpur, Kannuj, Hamirpur, Unnau, Allahabad, Buxar, Ghazipur, Chhapra and Patna by the National Mission for Clean Ganga. No trace of SARS-CoV-2 was not identified in any of the samples collected, mentioned the virologists appointed in the stud, reported the PTI.
RNA of the virus from the water samples was extracted for the objective and RT-PCR tests had been carried out to decide if the samples are infected by Covid-19. The study also analysed the biological traits of the river.
Bodies of Covid-19 victims identified dumped in Ganga in the course of the peak of the second wave that saw a enormous quantity of fatalities raised issues about contamination of the water as the river is the crucial supply of drinking water for a lot of villages, neighborhood bodies along the rivers. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had been badly match by the second wave following which the Centre asked the states along the Ganga to guarantee strict vigilance and verify future incidences of persons dumping corpses in Ganga and its tributaries.
The study was carried out by the National Mission for Clean Ganga below the Jal Shakti Ministry in collaboration with CSIR’s Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), Lucknow, the Central Pollution Control Board and the state pollution manage boards.