Life on the Local- Railway accident deaths: It takes months before bodies are cremated

With the average count of unknown deceased ranging between three and four every day, the bodies get harder to store as the capacity is limited. And the situation turns for the worse during rains.

“The situation is worse during monsoons, when the rate of accidents increases,” says a mortuary worker, adding that autopsy of mutilated bodies becomes challenging, especially if it is discovered late on the tracks and has started decomposing.

The Rajawadi mortuary in Ghatkopar, which receives the maximum railway accident victims from the eastern suburbs, especially Kurla, is one of the worst affected. Data indicates that the Kurla railway police have reported more than 75 deceased this year.

A senior doctor says the duration for which these bodies need to be kept in the morgue is more worrisome than the capacities. “It is a trend that has not seen any decline over the years. Unknown bodies is a calling for us to be more responsible as these unclaimed deceased are not traced by their families and we are storing them in our facility for as long as we can. But, while some hospitals have vacancies to store, a few don’t and in order to accommodate a body with an identity, we dispose by procedure the unidentified bodies,” says the doctor who does not wish to be named.

A senior railway officer says the 327 unknown fatalities “do not illustrate the extent of the plight” that the officer attached with the railway police faces on a daily basis while “transporting or disposing” a body.

“We cremate or bury them depending on the prima facie evidence that indicate the religion of the unknown deceased. It is not the responsibility of the railway police officers. But since we take the body to hospital and register the cases, we follow it through,” he adds.