Lahore’s morgues full to the brim with unclaimed corpses

Governments past and present have termed overcrowded mortuaries unproblematic

LAHORE:

The country’s second most populous city’s troubles with overpopulation have now extended to a lack of burial spaces and more importantly to its mortuaries resulting in hospital officials scratching their heads as to what to do with dead bodies which are not claimed by anyone

A city of more than 12 million people, Lahore, can only accommodate about 85 corpses in its various government hospitals - there is room for 50 in the Mayo Hospital, 20 in Jinnah Hospital, and 15 in General Hospital. Despite the glaringly obvious need for expanding existing morgues or building new ones, governments past and present have never batted an eye to the issue as per sources privy to the matter in the provincial health department.

Resultantly, volunteer services like Edhi and even the provincial police face immense difficulties finding place to store corpses when they are turned away by hospitals claiming to be “already full.” According to a spokesperson of the welfare organization Edhi, its founder Abdul Sattar Edhi had once appealed to the Punjab government in the past that if he was provided a piece of land in Lahore, he could build a huge cemetery and mortuary where everything was provided free of cost. “To date no one has considered the proposal and it seems like no one considers this as a problem,” the spokesperson accused while talking to The Express Tribune under the condition of anonymity.

Punjab Health Secretary, Arif Anwar Baloch, who was contacted to address the accusation by The Express Tribune, did not respond to the request but his spokesman conceded that there was no such policy from the government and it was of little importance. “The government will consider its importance in due time and if it is of relevance, funds will be allocated for morgues in the annual budget.”

While the government adopts a policy of wait and see, various sources from the city’s hospitals informed that mortuaries being full with unclaimed corpses meant that managing them was a nightmare as often the stench became unbearable.

Dr Salman Kazmi, General Secretary of the Young Doctors Association, commenting on the matter demanded that the issue of unclaimed corpses should be resolved by the government immediately.

“NADRA and the government should work hand in hand to identify the bodies. NADRA has a vast database and surely they can help,” he suggested. Dr Kazmi was of the view that if the government can allocate funds for often meaningless projects, it could surely provide a significant amount to expanding existing facilities

“The situation is so bad that corpses have to be kept in private hospitals which charge Rs 5,500 for keeping a body for 24 hours. If the government does not think this is a problem, they should take a look at the indescribable state of corpses in government hospitals. The issue demands immediate action and that too free of cost,” Dr Kazmi said while talking to The Express Tribune.