the goan I network
MARGAO
Margao police officials have found themselves in a tight spot for no fault of theirs as the Margao Municipal Council has been virtually sitting on requests from them to dispose of as many as 22 dead bodies lying at the Goa Medical College and Hospital mortuary at Bambolim.
GMC has now refused to accept any more dead bodies brought from Margao on the grounds that the police have failed to dispose the bodies preserved at the mortuary.
What’s interesting to note is the fact that the Margao police had written to the Margao civic body to dispose of the bodies, but in vain. Margao police station in-charge, PI C L Patil, had personally called up the MMC Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudesai as well as Chief Officer Y B Tawde to intervene and get the dead bodies disposed of from the GMC, but the ground reality remains unchanged till date.
A visibly upset PI Patil said the police indeed find themselves in a fix as the TB hospital authorities are refusing to accept unknown bodies, while the GMC has now put a condition that fresh bodies will be accepted only after the disposal of the 22 bodies preserved in the mortuary. “Because of this peculiar situation, my police personnel find themselves in a quandary. They take the unknown dead bodies to the GMC, but the authorities are refusing to accept the same for failure of MMC to dispose of the existing ones,” PI Patil said.
Replying to a question, the PI said the number of unknown and unclaimed bodies have increased in recent days, adding that many of the dead were found to be beggars. “If the municipality cannot dispose of the dead bodies on time, the authority and funds may be given to the Margao police to carry out the disposal,” he added.
When The Goan called up MMC Chief Officer Tawde to shed light on the situation, he admitted that there’s been delay on part of the civic body to dispose of the bodies on time. “As it is, the municipality has no hearse van of its own and the ambulance handed over to the civic body is being converted into a hearse van. Moreover, there’s been some delay on part of the administration to sanction the money for the disposal,” Tawde admitted. He, however, hastened to add that the municipality will treat the issue on topmost priority and dispose of as many bodies during the next two days. “I have spoken to my officials to engage hearse vans to bring the bodies lying at the GMC morgue for disposal in the city. I am certain that at least 7-8 bodies can be disposed of on Thursday itself,” Tawde said.
