Mumbai, Apr 1 (PTI) The Maharashtra BJP on Wednesday criticised the state government over the withdrawal of a circular which mandated that the bodies of coronavirus patients would be cremated and not buried.

On Monday, Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi issued a circular saying that bodies of COVID-19 patients should be cremated irrespective of religion so as to avoid transmission of infection.

If relatives insisted on burial, it will be allowed only outside Mumbai, the circular said.

Following protest by some Muslim and Christian community leaders, the circular was revised with a clarification that burials in Mumbai will be allowed provided the burial grounds are large enough.

Keshav Upadhye, BJP state spokesperson, on Wednesday said, "I wonder why some ministers in the state government were against the circular which had ordered cremation of all victims of COVID-19, as it is an advisory issued by the WHO. They should have kept their religious biases aside."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)