Patients at Nalanda Medical College and Hospital have to share space with decomposing bodies, as the mortuary cooler of the health hub has been lying defunct for a year and a half now.

A senior doctor at the hospital, who did not want to be named, said: “The problem is with unidentified bodies. These are supposed to be kept in the mortuary where the cooler prevents them from decomposing. But as the cooler has been defunct, the bodies are kept in the open.”

Bodies have to be kept at around 2-8°C in the mortuary to help preserve them, the doctor explained.

Deputy superintendent, NMCH, Dr Santosh Kumar said: “The cooler has a gas leakage problem. We have written to the Calcutta-based company from which it was purchased.”

Neither he nor superintendent Dr Shiv Kumari Prasad could say what price was paid for the mortuary’s cooler. A source said it had been bought for Rs 6 lakh. The mortuary can accommodate four bodies.

The deputy superintendent said: “If the company does not take action soon, we shall lodge an FIR against them.”

Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said: “I learnt of the defunct mortuary cooler a month and a half back at a meeting of superintendents of all governments. We have asked the superintendents of all hospitals to prepare vision documents for improving the hospitals. If there is any infrastructure problem, the superintendents should include it in their vision document. Our engineers would verify it and take a decision accordingly.”