After delays, new cold storage facility at IGGMCH to open soon

Nagpur: Of the three cold storage machines in the present facility of IGGMCH, one has not been functioning since the past year. The other two machines are over ten years old, having served beyond its time. Moreover, rats wreak havoc in the cold room, by nibbling on the corpses.
In view of the present dilapidated state of cold storage at IGGMCH, construction of a new cold storage building is underway, said head of forensic department, Dr Makarand Vyawahare. He said the PWD is scheduled to hand over the building this month.

“In the present facility, only about eight to ten bodies are being looked after. In the new building, eighteen bodies will be preserved,” said Vyawahare.

TOI had reported last year that the cold storage was scheduled to be functional by March 2018. DMER approval and money for the same was sanctioned last year, but procedural matters ended up delaying the process, said Dr Vyawahare, adding that funds for machines were also sanctioned over four months ago.

Directives to renovate the mortuary were given to the state by the high court after reviewing a PIL filed by Pune-based Sahyog Trust. The trust, in 2014, had filed the PIL after witnessing the unclean conditions in which post mortems were being conducted, said NGO trustee Dr Ravindra Bhusari.

A committee was instituted to look into the matter, and medical colleges across the state were asked to follow the “Goa-pattern” of building mortuary. “17 medical colleges and all district and rural hospitals with mortuary set-ups were ordered for renovation. But IGGMCH is the only hospital to have begun with the tendering process,” Vyawahare added.

The one-storey building will be on a sharing basis with the pharmacology department’s animal house. After receiving administrative approval, Rs 50 lakh has been sanctioned by the district planning committee for the construction of the building, and Rs 26 lakh for three cold storage machines, said Vyawahare.

The order for the machines has been placed with Haffkine, and the money will be handed over to the company soon. Official representing Haffkine was unavailable for comment.