THE NATIONAL Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has released the country’s first-ever Standard Operating Procedure, including guidelines, for the identification of victims in the event of “mass fatality incidents”.
The document highlights critical gaps when it comes to handling such incidents currently, and recommends steps for the recognition, registration and dignified handover of human remains to families.
One of the most notable recommendations in the guidelines is the creation of a ‘National Dental Data Registry’, so that teeth and jaws could be used to identify victims.
The guidelines also include the use of “forensic archaeology”, to help in identification of bodies months or years after a disaster.
The NDMA move follows five major tragedies last year, including the Air India crash in Ahmedabad in June, the chemical factory explosion in Sangareddy, Telangana, the same month, the Gambhira bridge collapse in Vadodara, Gujarat, in July, the flash floods in Dharali, Uttarakhand, in August, and the Delhi car bomb blast of November.
The document titled ‘National Disaster Management Guidelines on Comprehensive Disaster Victim Identification and Management’ was released on Republic Day by Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar in Delhi – exactly 25 years after Gujarat saw one of its worst tragedies in the 2001 earthquake.
The expansive document details the role of all stakeholders in the aftermath of a disaster, including the composition of teams for identification process, and highlights critical lacunae, such as the lack of manpower and training, logistical gaps and problems with coordination and leadership at disaster sites, where hundreds of personnel from multiple agencies and administrative jurisdictions at the local, state and Central government levels can be expected to be present.
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NDMA Joint Adviser Nawal Prakash told The Indian Express: “It is the first time we have come out with such guidelines for disaster victim identification in our country. We have seen several victims of disasters remaining unidentified or difficult to identify. There are many branches in forensics that can help in this and we wanted to bring them together.”
After a disaster, the hurdles that can come up in victim identification include fragmentation and mingling of human remains, rapid decomposition in high-humidity or hot areas, displacement of bodies during floods, or charring in cases of fire. Logistical challenges include mortuary spaces, cold chain transport and storage.
Giving an example, Prakash said: “In Sangareddy, Telangana, we managed to identify many bodies because we had a manifest of how many and which people were on the premises. But suppose we don’t have such a manifest, such as during a landslide, and people get buried?… These guidelines were formulated to be prepared for all such scenarios.”
The NDMA joint adviser said they had studied Interpol guidelines on victim identification and replicated some good practices. “We have further added more specialties like forensic odontology and archaeology.”
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Professor (Dr) G Rajesh Babu, the Dean of the School of Medico-Legal Studies at National Forensic Sciences University and a member of the drafting committee of the guidelines, described it as “humanitarian forensics”. “In a mass fatality event, we cannot conduct a physical autopsy of all the victims… The process must be carried out with sensitivity to the community customs of the victims. A part of the process is emotional support and counselling.”
The four stages identified for the process include the systematic recovery of human remains; collection of post-mortem data; collection of ante-mortem data like medical records from families; and reconciliation of this data for identification and release of the remains to families.
Dr Jayasankar Pillai, a faculty member at Government Dental College, Ahmedabad, who was also a part of the Drafting Committee, said the first discussions on such guidelines were held in September 2025. “The plan then came into motion in November 2025.”
Prakash said they would start with setting up organisational structures across the country. “We will train experts from all relevant forensic fields, and try to create specialised teams, ideally in each state. We have begun this work on a war footing.”
