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Defunct cooling system stops Thane civil hospital from keeping bodies
Thane civil hospital morgue has refused to take any more bodies after the cooling system broke down, leading to faster decomposition of bodies.
Thane civil hospital morgue has refused to take any more bodies after the cooling system broke down, leading to faster decomposition of bodies.
The hospital has asked the police to dispose of unclaimed bodies kept in the morgue.
The cooling system at the morgue, which gets 10 bodies every day, has been working irregularly for the past 10 days. With the temperature much above the 2 degrees that is required to preserve bodies, bodies were decomposing faster. On Tuesday, the cooling system stopped completely.
The morgue currently has 35 unclaimed bodies.
Hospital staff said the stench from the morgue has made it impossible for them to work in the wards.
“We have started using masks but this doesn’t save us from the stench. We aren’t even able to go near the morgue,” said a staffer. The hospital has issued a notice stating that they wouldn’t take bodies while the cooling system is repaired.
This is not the first time when the cooling system at the hospital broke down. In October 2018, the hospital had to close down its morgue for a week.
Thane district civil surgeon Dr Kailas Pawar said he has instructed police to take away the unclaimed bodies. “There is some technical issue with the air cooler of the morgue so we had to stop taking bodies. Also, we needed to vacate the morgue for the purpose of sanitisation,” he said.
According to rules, an unclaimed body can be disposed within four days of its recovery if police fail to identify the person. But, if police investigation requires further preservation of the body, they can extend the time of conservation to a maximum period of eight days.
But often, police delay the disposal process for requirements in crime investigation. According to hospital sources, for the last 11 months, the body of a man, suspected to be foreign national, is lying at the hospital. The autopsy had revealed that he died of stab wounds.
“We are trying to get permission to preserve few bodies at other hospitals and we will dispose of the others as per the requirements,” said a senior officer from Thane police station.
