There are 70 bodies, including 33 of foreigners, lying unclaimed in the morgues in Goa while almost 151 cabinets are not in a working condition. These include 108 cabinets of the new morgue at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC). One of the bodies has been unclaimed for almost five years.
Only 132 cabinets and racks are available to preserve the bodies, and presently only 62 bodies can be stored as the rest of the spaces are occupied by unclaimed bodies.
The information was provided by Health Minister Francis D’Souza to the State Legislative Assembly on Thursday. The opposition, including Independent MLAs Rohan Khaunte and Vijai Sardesai, grilled the Health Minister over the failure of new morgue within one month of its commissioning and non-availability of space in the existing morgues.
Trying to clarify, the minister said that most of these bodies are lying in the morgue either because they are not claimed or because their deaths are medico-legal cases. “We are facing problems since many dead bodies are of foreigners, mostly from UK, and these are lying unclaimed. We have written to the concerned embassies but there is no reply,” he said.
The minister agreed to the Opposition Leader Pratapsingh Rane’s suggestion to grant certain deadlines to the respective embassies to either claim the bodies or dispose them.
The minister said that directions are being issued to North and South Superintendent of Police and GMC medical superintendent to dispose the unclaimed bodies. “As per rule, within 10 days the bodies can be disposed off seeking an order from the magistrate,” he said.
D’Souza admitted that the full new unit, of 108 cold storage cabinets, commissioned on January 1, 2014 is lying idle due to malfunctioning. “The GSIDC is currently working on the morgue,” he said.
