This new play highlights the condition of Mumbai morgues

A new play in Mumbai seeks to throw light on deadly conditions prevailing in most of the morgues, which lack facilities and new technologies. Pic/Rajendra B Aklekar

A new play in Mumbai seeks to throw light on deadly conditions prevailing in most of the morgues, which lack facilities and new technologies. The inaugural show of the Marathi one-act play titled "Super Coroner" presented by Umanand Communications highlighting the plight was featured at Borivali. In Mumbai, there are five hospitals attached with Coroner's courts-Cooper, Bhagwati, Rajawadi, JJ and KEM. The coroner is a public servant whose function is to make an inquest of any death thought to be from other than natural causes.

In most of these dingy mortuaries, unclaimed corpses lay for months together. There is no rule who should cremate unclaimed bodies. The police maintain that it is the job of the hospital authorities. The problem is that there are no funds available for the disposal of unclaimed bodies-- not with the police, nor with the hospitals. Some police officers and NGOs voluntarily take initiative in cremation/burial of unclaimed corpses. However, by and large, the morgue staff work in a horrible condition.

The play focuses on condition in the morgue. The play highlights how this department is isolated, about which the common men have little knowledge. Yet it is not drab since dialogues are interspersed with witty jokes making viewers burst into peals of laughter. "Balu" and "Kalu", the morgue attendants bump into two girls right in the morgue, which makes them wonder what they were doing in such a ghastly environs. The upcoming artists have performed well.

The play has been written by Journalist Raju Vernekar, while it has been directed by Meroo. The music has been scored by Srikant Kulkarni. Sound and light has been handled by Avinash Paradkar. Cast: Sachin Veer, Aniket Shirsath, Diya Joshi, Priya Gorad, Prasanna Mali, Mahesh Kamble, Deepali More and Abhijit Asrondkar.

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