Mira-Bhayandar: Government-Run Tembha Hospital Mortuary's 12 of 21 Cabinets In Cold Room Out Of Service For 2 Months

Mira-Bhayandar: Twelve out of the 21 cabinets in the mortuary's cold room at Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (Tembha) Hospital in Bhayandar (West), a state government-run establishment, are currently out of service due to non-operational air-conditioners. These cabinets have been awaiting repairs for more than two months, resulting in hospitals returning the bodies that come for preservation back to the families due to full-occupancy of the functioning cabinets.

The mortuary, designed to accommodate 21 bodies with seven cabinets that consist three units each, currently only accommodates nine bodies, with technical issues rendering four cabinets stationary. This situation poses a challenge for bereaving families who require additional time for preservation, especially those awaiting the arrival of relatives from distant locations for the final rites.

Moreover, the mortuary also caters to six local police stations handling medico-legal cases involving accidental and unnatural deaths, as well as railway-related incidents between Mira Road and Virar.

Civil surgeon Dr Zafar Tadvi said, “Efforts were on to get the cabinets repaired and put them into use as early as possible. We have also requested the district health department to provide new cabinets for the morgue.”

The administrative control of the mortuary, constructed by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) in 2011 at the cost of Rs 90 lakh, transitioned to the state government in 2018 after facing challenges in sustaining the administrative expenses to run the medical institution.

Morgue at MBMC hospital also dead for over 3 years

The mortuary in the civic-run Bharat Ratna Indira Gandhi Hospital in Mira Road has been non-functional for more than three years. Initially equipped with three cabinets and three units each for nine bodies, ongoing construction to add extra floors to the hospital building led to its temporary closure, and improper handling caused irreparable damage to the cabinets.

Retired banker and social activist Rajesh Talreja said, “I have been repeatedly requesting the civic administration to start the morgue so that the kin of the deceased are not deprived of a dignified space to preserve the body of their beloved ones.” A senior health official confirmed, “We have sent an official request to the public works department seeking procurement of new cabinets to restart the morgue.”