The morgue facility at Aundh Chest Hospital (ACH) wears a deserted look, as the mortuary has been dysfunctional for the past month. ACH is the sole hospital in the district admitting TB patients.
The hospital, with a capacity of 120 beds, relies on the morgue facility of Aundh District Hospital (ADH), a 280-bed hospital. However, ADH has only 6-unit mortuary facilities, with only 2 fully functional. The remaining four were not operational until recently, when repairs were undertaken. However, they now admit bodies for only short durations due to ongoing infrastructural developments.
According to sources, ADH's morgue facility has a total of 6 units, of which only two were fully operational, while the examining four were non-operational.
Recently, the government of Maharashtra awarded tenders to private AOV Company for instrument repairs. The company replaced the compressor, fixing the four beds. However, major infrastructural changes are still pending. Balancing the morgue's temperature and installing additional exhaust and AC are necessary to maintain suitable conditions. Due to pending infrastructural work, bodies are not admitted for more than 12 hours.
Health activist speak up
Health activist Sharad Shetty stated, "The mortuary at ADH has six units of cold storage, which often face malfunctions. Until recently, only two units were operational, leaving the rest defunct. People inquire about the cold storage facility at the hospital, given its status as a district hospital. However, they are compelled to seek alternatives at other hospitals. ADH serves as a convenient spot for nearby residents. Despite being a 400-bed hospital, ADH and ACH have only six storage units, which is insufficient."
Dr Nagnath Yempalay, district civil surgeon and head of ADH, clarified, "The storage unit is the responsibility of the civic body, and we have maintained only 6 units for emergency cases. Recently, all four units were repaired."
Dr. Abhijeet Hosmani, Superintendent of Chest Hospital Aundh, Pune, said, "We don't have a mortuary; we send bodies to the ADH mortuary. They have 6 units, and we depend on them, but mostly we don't receive many cases. We hand over the bodies to the relatives; sometimes, we have to keep them in cold storage for 6 hours. Also, on a daily basis, we don't get as many cases as it's quite sufficient. We can increase the capacity from 6 to 10 units, but the cost of maintaining these mortuaries is expensive as you have to always keep the AC and power on."
