Minister intervenes to fast-track disposal of Covid patient's body

Kolkata: A 62-year-old man from Sahapur Colony area of Behala died of Covid inside his house a little after midnight on Sunday but his dead body remained lying till Monday afternoon before being removed by the Kolkata police and the civic body, alleged the family members.

State parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee intervened into the matter on Monday afternoon and fast-tracked the process of disposing off the body.

He urged the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to take necessary arrangements to dispose of the body. Chatterjee talked to the family members.

Following the intervention of Chatterjee, the KMC acted promptly and removed the body.

Chatterjee said that he came to know about the matter and talked to the family members. He also urged the civic body to take the body. The incident should not have happened, Chatterjee maintained.

The family members of the patient alleged that the dead body was kept inside the house for over 15 hours.

As the all five members of the family are also Covid positive and the entire house has been announced as a containment zone the family members could not go out.

Ashoka Mondal coordinator of ward 119 under which the area falls however claimed that they had no proper information if the deceased had been infected with Covid.

She also claimed that there was no delay in disposing of the body. She said that the family members failed to get a death certificate from a doctor and this had caused a delay.

The KMC acted promptly after they came to know about the matter, Mondal added.