Efforts on for quick disposal of bodies

HYDERABAD: The state government has decided to constitute a committee headed by special chief secretary, health, along with other important officials to prepare guidelines to facilitate quick disposal of bodies from the mortuaries at Gandhi and Osmania hospitals.NDMA vice-chairman and Sanathnagar MLA, Marri Shashidhar Reddy held a meeting with chief secretary Pankaj Dwivedi and other officials on Friday on the problems being faced by the people of Padmarao Nagar area because of the foul smell emanating from the Gandhi Hospital mortuary.He said sometimes the unclaimed bodies which are received in a decomposed condition, remain there for several days. He also said lack of proper maintenance of the mortuary is also contributing to this problem. Padmarao Nagar is now a part of the Sanathnagar Assembly constituency after the delimitation of constituencies. The people living behind Gandhi Hospital also have been complaining about this problem. The mortuary is located close to the compound wall of the hospital.Though some temporary improvements were made from time to time but problems have been surfacing time and again. This is the first time that such a meeting was held to discuss the problems of mortuaries in the government hospitals, mainly  Gandhi and Osmania.GHMC commissioner MT Krishna Babu pointed out that at least five electric crematoria are now ready for use and they can dispose of up to 30 bodies on a single day. They are designed as per pollution control norms to avoid any inconvenience to surrounding areas.However, it was felt that certain procedures have to be followed for timely disposal of bodies. The problem of foul smell emanating from the bodies during transit for disposal was also pointed out by the superintendent of Gandhi Hospital.Special chief secretary, Health, has also been requested to examine the possibility of allowing private hospitals to conduct autopsy of bodies as is being done in Karnataka. This will reduce the load on the two government hospitals in Hyderabad. He was also requested to examine the possibility of a police mortuary as in Mumbai where all the unclaimed bodies can be taken for post-morterm and kept there till identification is completed. The meeting also requested the commissioner of Vaidya Vidhana Parishad to examine the possibility of establishing mortuaries with post-mortem facilities in the peripheral area hospitals.