Years after coffingate,indigenous,low-cost aluminium caskets await govt nod

This is one casket that might get a premature burial. The Research and Development Establishment Engineers,Pune,which had been asked to develop aluminium caskets to fit Indian parameters in 2004....

This is one casket that might get a premature burial. The Research and Development Establishment Engineers,Pune,which had been asked to develop aluminium caskets to fit Indian parameters in 2004,delivered the goods a year later. It also developed nylon body bags alongside to fit Indian requirements. However,with the Centre putting off a decision on using them,the effort threatens to go waste.

It is seemingly immaterial that the cost stands reduced to less than one-third the rate at which the foreign version was imported during the Kargil war or that it is relatively lightweight and easy to stack. Even the prototype of the nylon fabric body bags,critical in war zones and disaster-hit areas,has been ready for use for the last four years and awaits the Defence Ministrys approval.

It was barely two months ago,on August 22,that the CBI chargesheet in the 2002 Coffingate scam named three Indian Army officials and a US company while exonerating then defence minister George Fernandes. The scam pertained to the alleged conspiracy related to import of overpriced,substandard aluminium caskets and body bags for Indian soldiers who died on the battlefield. It is this scam which led to the Research and Development Establishment being asked to make aluminium caskets as per Indian requirements.

The casket,weighing only 42 kg,even lighter than the originally targeted 45 kg and coming at a competitive price tag of around Rs 40,000,was designed,developed as per Ministry specifications and submitted in October 2005 to the Indian Army. The Ramp;DE is still awaiting a response,since the casket,and body bags,have great potential for civilian use,especially in strife-torn areas the Naxal strike in Gadchiroli being a good example.

Even major hospitals are looking for such a solution for transportation of dead bodies by air and a few fabrication companies in Pune are ready to manufacture it on a commercial basis. In fact,the prototype of the casket was fabricated at a private company in Pune.

It was almost a full years job as weight of the casket was the key issue to be resolved. The model available as per UN standards weighed around 55 kg. We started off by talking to doctors at AFMC and even some civilian doctors to arrive at the ideal specifications to accommodate the body of an

Indian,unlike the imported one that was made as per Caucasian body specifications. We finally settled for six ft and 8-inch length,two ft and 4-inch width,one ft and 5-inch height and a load bearing capacity of 100 kg, Sivanandan A K,scientist at Ramp;DE,in charge of designing and developing the prototype four years ago,told The Indian Express.

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The casket we developed is made of 1.6mm thick commercial grade aluminium and we managed to reduce its weight to 42 kg and sufficient structural stability to stack three caskets one over the other,where the one at the bottom could bear a weight of up to 300 kg without any problem, he said. The casket is made of two pieces that undergo hermetic sealing in a manner that the body doesnt decompose for 8-10 hours. We also developed the body bags which could withstand severe cold 8211; 40 degree C and heat 70 degree C, he added.