Indian government criticised after scores of bodies surface in Ganges

Environmentalists challenge government over uncontrolled practice of body disposal by Hindus, who consider the river sacred

India's special environmental court has criticised the government for its failure to curb river pollution, a lawyer petitioning the court has said, after scores of bodies surfaced in the Ganges river.

Last week more than 80 bodies - mostly decomposed skeletons and half-burned corpses - surfaced in the river in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh after a drop in water levels.