The deep freezer of the Dehradun Coronation Hospital’s post mortem house is out of order since the past six months due to which the employees working in the post mortem house are suffering from the foul smell, there is also a danger of spread of disease but for the past six months no one is taking any notice of it.
Social and RTI activist Bhupendra Laxmi filed a PIL in the Human Rights Commission of Uttarakhand and requested that “The deep freezer for keeping dead bodies in the postmortem house of Coronation Hospital, Dehradun is out of order for the last six months. There are three fridges here in which six dead bodies can be kept. The health department is also aware of the freezer being out of order but still nothing has been done. That is why if the dead body has to be kept without a freezer, then the employees working in the postmortem house become restless due to the foul smell.
Coronation Hospital is the only postmortem house in the city. Not only government hospitals but also private hospitals bring dead bodies for postmortem here. There is no mortuary in the postmortem house. Only postmortems are done here, but a freezer is needed to keep the dead bodies. If any unclaimed dead body is found, then the police keeps the unclaimed body in the mortuary for 72 hours. Only after this the postmortem is done, but due to the freezer being out of order, the bodies are not able to be kept here. In such a situation, all the dead bodies have to be sent to the mortuary of Doon Hospital. Sometimes three-four dead bodies come together, in such a situation, the dead bodies are not kept in the mortuary. It is not possible to do post-mortem of all the patients at the same time.”
“Other bodies have to be kept in the freezer. Due to the freezer being out of order, all the bodies have to be kept outside. If there is an immediate need for postmortem, but due to some circumstances the postmortem cannot be done, then without the freezer, the dead body starts emitting a terrible stench.
Every month 100 bodies are being postmortemed and bodies from the city’s big private hospitals are also brought to the Coronation Hospital’s postmortem house for postmortem.”
“Apart from this, one postmortem house is built in Vikas Nagar and the other in the sub-district hospital in Mussoorie. 100 postmortems are being done every month in the Coronation Hospital’s postmortem house. From January till now, 701 bodies have been postmortemed.”
Therefore, it is requested to the Honorable Sir that the subject of the complaint is very serious and is clearly related to the loss of life and property of the employees working in the postmortem house, so in the public interest, in the interest of justice, please direct the Director General of Health to take immediate action and summon the report and take action.
While hearing the PIL, Member (Judge) of Human Rights Commission Girdhar Singh Dharmashaktu ordered the Chief Medical Superintendent, Coronation Hospital, Dehradun.
Order-
File presented, a complaint application has been submitted by the complainant Bhupendra Kumar Laxmi regarding the deep freezer for keeping dead bodies in the post-mortem house of Coronation Hospital being out of order for 06 months.
A copy of the complaint application should be sent to the Chief Medical Superintendent, Coronation Hospital, Dehradun. He must present his report in this regard before the Commission before the due date.
The file should be submitted on 02.09.2024.
It is to be noted that in case of non-action as per the above order of the Commission, appropriate orders will be passed by the Commission after consideration.
