South hosp mortuary full as MMC halts cremation over Rs 15L dues

Margao: The mortuary at South Goa District Hospital has reached near-capacity, with authorities flagging a crisis due to unclaimed bodies not being disposed of, allegedly owing to a lack of funds with the Margao Municipal Council (MMC).

Dr Madhu Ghodkirekar, Associate Professor of Forensic Medicine at GMC said that the demand for preservation of bodies increases during Holy Week, as there is a long-standing practice in Goa that churches do not conduct funerals from Maundy Thursday through Easter Sunday.

“Each year, we reserve at least 15 cabinets for this Holy Week. Regrettably, our mortuary has remained ‘houseful’ for the past six weeks because MMC has stopped arranging cremations of unclaimed bodies for want of funds. As of today (March 30), 62 of the 72 cabinets available are occupied by unclaimed bodies. Of these, 27 relate to police cases and 18 are hospital deaths,” he said in a letter dated March 30 addressed to the South Goa District Collector and the Superintendent of Police through the Medical Superintendent of Hospicio Hospital. He said that the near absence of space will make it difficult to manage emergency fatalities.

The situation has arisen as MMC has not cremated unidentified bodies for over a month, citing non-release of funds from the office of the South Goa Collector, he stated in the letter.

Detailing operational requirements, Dr Ghodkirekar stated, “We need at least 15 cabinets on a daily basis to preserve the bodies, and hence we are facing significant constraints.”

He stated that the District Collector and the Superintendent of Police have been urged to intervene and resolve the issue without delay. When contacted, MMC Chief Officer Madhu Narvekar stated that the civic body has already written to the District Collector’s office, informing it that the MMC lacks funds to continue disposing of unclaimed bodies, as pending payments of Rs 15,21,700 for disposal carried out between 2022 and 2025 have not been cleared.

Referring to his letter dated March 11, Narvekar stated that he had requested reimbursement of dues at the earliest.  “The present proposal received by MMC for disposal of dead bodies by contractors has been revised to Rs 3,600, up from Rs 3,000 earlier. With no alternative available, we have had to suspend payments for disposal of dead bodies until the grants are released,” he said.