New mortuary unit at District Hospital in Margao.
MARGAO
Even as the authorities have decided to strictly go by the set regime of not storing Covid bodies beyond 72 hours at the district hospital mortuary, four Covid bodies of beggars and 11 non-Covid bodies are awaiting disposal at the mortuary.
Reasons cited for the delay in disposing of the Covid and non-Covid bodies are that the authorities have either not made the payments to the Margao Municipal Council for the disposal of bodies in the past or the pre-occupation of the Margao Municipal staff in the ongoing civic polls.
Unlike last year when issues of mortuary space constraints had come to the fore when coronavirus was at its peak, the authorities appears to be in a comfortable position to handle dead bodies, including both Covid and non-Covid.
For, the 72-cabinet spacious mortuary commissioned at the South Goa district can cater to both Covid and non-Covid bodies at a time, with the hospital authorities allotting a dedicated eight-cabinet mortuary for Covid bodies. The ESI hospital, Margao, which has again resumed operations as a full-fledged Covid hospital, has a mortuary facility to accommodate eight Covid bodies at a time.
Besides, Hospicio’s mortuary at the TB hospital complex atop Monte Hill has a provision.
Officials, however, pointed out that there cannot be any laxity and delay in the disposal of both Covid and non-Covid bodies, more so at a time when the deaths are increasing by the day.
An official pointed out that the authorities cannot have any excuse to defend the delay in disposing off the four Covid bodies of beggars lying in the hospital beyond 72 hours now. “It is a good thing that Goan families have claimed the bodies of their loved ones who have fallen prey to Covid. But, the problem lies with unidentified bodies of beggars, who have tested positive for Covid’, the official said.
To ensure that the eight cabinets at the South Goa district hospital mortuary is available for storage of bodies, the authorities should take care to dispose of the Covid bodies as per the 72 hour regime.
“Why should the four Covid bodies and 11-non Covid bodies allowed to remain in the mortuary for no rhyme or reason when the stage has to gear up for the worst scenario”, an official question, while hoping that the concerned authorities will take cognizance of the situation.
When The Goan called up Margao Police station in-charge, PI Sachin Narvekar to shed light on the non-disposal of the dead bodies lying at the mortuary, he said the job of disposal of bodies lies with the Margao Municipal Council.
MMC Chief Officer, Agnelo Fernandes said the process of disposal of bodies has come to a halt since the concerned dealing hands and the drivers have been requisitioned for election duties. “I will find out from the election authorities whether they can relieve the dealing hand and the driver from the election duties so that they can be engaged in the job of disposal of the bodies”, Agnelo said.
Though the non-payment of money to the civic body is also doing the rounds in the corridors of the Civic body, the Chief Officer attributed the delay in the disposal of the bodies to the requisitioning of the staff for election duties. “The authorities have not reimbursed to the Municipality the amount spent on the disposal of bodies, but that is not the reason why the bodies have not been disposed of till dare”, he added.
