Priests who perform the last rites of the teeming millions here vouch for the fact that as long as the Bhagirathi, as the river is called here, ran deep, its swift currents carried the bodies. But over the years, pollution has forced the Bhagirathi to change course, with the waters getting shallower, and the currents weaker.

The priests persuade people to bury the dead on the banks of the river these days or go in for cremation to prevent pollution of the source of their livelihood.

The practice of immersing the dead in the waters of the Bhagirathi, is based on the belief that it provides salvation to the soul.

However, pollution has led to a situation in which the bodies do not float away, but get entangled in the weeds and garbage.

Under the circumstances, concerned citizens and several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) haveattempted to prevent the disposal of bodies in the river at various fora, including the courts, and obtained favourable orders.

The Kanpur-based Ecofriends has been performing a kar seva (voluntary work) since 1997, fishing out bodies from the river and giving them a proper burial. As many as 180 bodies have been buried thus in the sand at the Gola Ghat and Darka Ghat here, the voluntary organisation's executive secretary Rakesh Jaiswal said.

Jaiswal said his organisation had been campaigning to create awareness among the pandas (priests), doms (those who perform the funerals), boatmen and the common people, on the need to end the practice of river burials.

Initially, the suggestion had evoked resistence among the traditionalists, but nowadays, the pandas have acqueised. They persuade those who bring the bodies for immersion to either go in for cremation or burial in the sand alongside the river banks.

They said they had buried more than 400 such bodies at the Budia Ghat aloneduring the last eight months. The charges are Rs 100 to Rs 200 for the burial, but in the case of the poor or unattended bodies, they perform the rites for free.

Two doms, Ashok and Raju, said the new practice was gaining acceptance in most of the ghats, but bodies were still being immersed in ghats like Balu Ghat, Chandan Ghat and Shukla Ganj.

Jaiswal said NCC cadets and students had also been asked to propogate the ill-effects of river burials. The city administration has also set up electric cremetoria at Bhero Ghat, Bhagwat Das Ghat, and Misra Ghat to discourage people from immersing bodies in the river.

The people of the city have been plagued by the fact that alongwith the pollution and reduced flow in the Bhagirathi, the river which used to flow about four decades ago through the ghats, has gradually changed course and at present, the main stream is about nine km away from the Bhero Ghat.