Disposal of bodies has emerged as a challenge at the Ludhiana Civil Hospital, with at least 10 corpses lying unclaimed for days now at its mortuary.Currently, 20 bodies lie in the mortuary, which has a capacity to keep 35 corpses. The deceased include accident victims, unclaimed corpses recovered from deserted places, and patients who died during treatment.According to sources, 10 bodies have remained at the mortuary for 10 to 40 days — most linked to the Moti Nagar police station — despite the rule mandating the disposal of an unclaimed body after 72 hours of arrival.‘Situation unusual’A nodal officer who looks after the issue admitted that the situation was “unusual” and persistent efforts were being made to resolve it.According to standard medical protocol, a body can be kept in a mortuary or funeral home for three to seven days.Doctors said while refrigeration could delay decay, the decomposition starts immediately after death, making preservation a difficult task.‘Directions issued’Assistant Commissioner of Police Inderjit Singh Boparai said beat officers at the Moti Nagar police station had been advised to coordinate with the authorities concerned at the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation to arrange the disposal of the bodies or to rope in some organisation for the purpose.‘Written to dept concerned’Senior Medical Officer at the Ludhiana Civil Hospital Akhil Sareen said he had already written to the department concerned for the final rites of the unclaimed bodies. “We hand over the bodies to the police,” he said.‘No intimation received’Municipal Commissioner Neeru Katyal Gupta said the department provides funds to the police department for this purpose but they have not received any intimation in this regard.“The police need to inform us or write to us,” the Municipal Commissioner said, adding that she would contact the Health Department for update on it.