Following complaints that more than one dead bodies were allegedly transported in a single mortuary van, authorities have sought allocation of additional number of vehicles for the free hearse service offered at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.
Officials coordinating free hearse service in Coimbatore said that sanction of two more vans has been sought to improve the service, which is offered free of cost. P. Navinprabhu, district programme manager for free hearse service, said more vans have been requested from the State Government through CMCH administration to conduct the service smoothly.
“Additional number of mortuary vans have been sought to improve the service. Immediate availability of mortuary vans becomes an issue when dead bodies are transported to long distances,” said CMCH Resident Medical Officer R. Soundravel. Vans running for free hearse service transport dead bodies free of cost to any district in Tamil Nadu. In the case of deceased hailing from other States, the vans will offer service up to 100 km from Tamil Nadu’s boundary.
Of the 10 mortuary vans allotted for CMCH, all fitted with GPS tracking system, four are not functioning due to immediate maintenance works to be carried out.
“On an average, the free mortuary vans carry 30 dead bodies to various places from CMCH a day. Last month, 800 dead bodies were transported from CMCH through free hearse service,” said Mr. Navinprabhu.
Recently, the fleet also touched the record of transporting 42 bodies from the hospital to the houses of deceased persons in a single day.
Meanwhile, MDMK State Youth Wing secretary V. Eswaran alleged that dead bodies of three persons were transported from CMCH in a single mortuary van recently.
According to him, dead bodies of three deceased persons from Kurumbapalayam, Anthiyur and Erode were transported from CMCH in a single van recently. He wanted the service to be improved by expanding the fleet.
