Mayo hospital mortuary to be revamped with high-end facilities, Rs 51.40 lakh sanctioned

NAGPUR: The old, dilapidated and almost non-existent mortuary of Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) will be demolished and reconstructed as one of the most high-end standardized facility among all GMCs of the state.

Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) has issued a notification on November 23 giving approval to the project. Funds of Rs 51.40 lakh have been sanctioned as well. The existing cold storage was embroiled in controversy September this year when a body was found disfigured by rodent.

IGMCH forensic department head Dr Makarand Vyawahare said, “More than following the MCI norms, the new mortuary will be following international standards of preserving bodies and thereby maintaining the ambience.”

According to Vyawahare, the new building will be constructed by March 2018. All the facilities in the new block will begin functioning by the end of 2018.

As per the plan, there will be a separate cold storage building. It will include a cold storage section with a capacity of 18 bodies. After body will enter the room, it will be kept in a closed cabinet, unexposed to other bodies.

“There will be a separate department named as ‘walking cold room’ with capacity of 30 bodies. It will perverse unidentified bodies till the time relatives arrive. As per the anatomy act, we have to store such bodies for 72 hours,” said Vyawahare.

“There are special cases when a body has to be preserved for more than 72 hours where the relatives get a special HC’s permission. The body starts decomposing after 72 hours, affecting ambient air which in turn affect the other bodies. Hence, such bodies, after 72 hours, have to be kept in isolation as per MCI. We will be having a separate section to cater such bodies,” he added.

In 1980, IGMCH was the first in state to begin with MD in forensic medicine with the formation of this department. Ever since, there was no development at all. It is a dilapidated structure. It is situated in the part of premises which is very close to the Jungle. Hence, rodents frequently enter the building.

“When I came to the college on June 19 this year, I realized that all the three cold storage room were not functioning. The autopsy was being performed in open, accessible to anyone, which is an irregularity, since post-mortem has to be done in isolation,” he said.

“At a different location I began two cold storage rooms with a capacity of six bodies each. I also made a separate isolation space to perform autopsy. The new autopsy will be the much standardized version. It will have a separate gallery for undergraduate students to view the autopsy,” he added.