not even in death.
The stench outside the post-mortem room at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital is unbearable. The reason: Six of the seven cold storage chambers at the morgue are out of order.
The searing heat has aggravated the woes of hospital staff who are compelled to store two bodies in one box and preserve them using ice slabs. But the bodies continue to rot, attracting maggots and spreading a stink that has left everyone squirming except the government. Its Public Welfare Department is in charge of maintaining the rooms.
Two bodies in a box
The seven chambers (each with 4 to 6 boxes) can accommodate 48 bodies. But four of these have been non-functional for almost three years now. Two cold storages, which were working on and off for the past six months, finally blew out a month ago. Only the unit, which was bought six months ago, is still functional. Ten days ago, however, this unit, too shut down due to overloading. The hospital staff had resorted to keeping two bodies in a box after the other six units had malfunctioned.
Six out of seven cold chambers at the civil hospital morgue are out of order. The govt just does not care
Resident doctors who conduct post-mortems say working in the morgue has become unbearable due to the stench.
Repeated pleas to the PWD finally got the unit working on Tuesday.
10 bodies a day
In the past 15 days, the hospital has witnessed a rise in the number of bodies brought to the morgue. A source says, “At least 10 bodies arrive here. There has been an increase in heatstroke and accident victims.”
Working in such conditions increases chance of infection for the doctors as well as the staff working in the morgue round-the-clock.
PWD’s negligence
Medical Superintendent M M Prabhakar says: “We have made several complaints to the PWD, but in vain. Our pleading got them to repair one of the units on Tuesday. The department is also in charge of sewage, water supply and maintenance of electronic equipment. But the officials brush off our complaints. This reflects badly on the hospital in the end.”
Surprisingly, the PWD office is adjacent to the post-mortem room.
Prabhakar says, “We are now planning to install a chill plant at the morgue. This will eliminate the need for separate chambers as the unit will cool the entire room.”
No repairs
Deputy Executive Engineer of the PWD washes his hands off the problem. S S Gupta says, “The units are very old. We have carried out repairs several times. However, due to the stink, our staff is reluctant to work in the morgue. We have prepared two proposals. We have asked senior PWD officials and hospital authorities to install a new cold storage room and set up another unit where only 10 bodies can be stored.”
Will the authorities act on the problem, which is awaiting a solution for years, only time will tell.
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