State initiates upgrading of mortuaries

Mumbai: With most state and civic-run mortuaries battling shortages related to metal cabinets used for storing dead bodies, the state health department has initiated a structural audit for upgrading these mortuaries. The director of major civic-run hospitals said that the structural audit is going on for this very purpose and that the work has already started.

The metal cabinets are made of sturdy materials as temperatures are below 7 degree Centigrade and air needs to continuously circulate around the dead bodies for their preservation. A staff member of a morgue said, “For the last six months, there are more than 20 bodies lying in the morgue. Though the bodies are kept in cabinets and sometimes, ice slabs are used to preserve them, such things can affect our health.”

“We have asked our senior authorities to look into the matter and carry out the final rites of these bodies but the situation is still the same. After conducting the DNA test and post-mortem, too, the police is unable to find their relatives,” he said.

The director of major civic-run hospitals, Dr Avinash Supe, said, “We are carrying out mortuary repairs temporarily but we have asked the high command for completely changing the mortuary”.