Santosh
Reddy is an electrical engineer working in US. Leaving
his old parents in the city and working in America
was very tough for Santosh. All was going well until
the day when he received the sad news of his father's
demise. Santosh was aghast and immediately rushed
back to Hyderabad to pay his last respects to his
beloved father. He was worried that his father's body
would get decomposed by the time he reached the city.
But when he landed he found that his father's body
was preserved intact thanks to the Body Freezer
Box, a portable mortuary incorporated with the
latest technology to preserve the dead.
Developed
by Shantakumar of the Chennai-based Flying
Squad Ambulance Service, the Body Freezer Box made
of stainless steel measures 6 feet in length and 3
feet in width. It is equipped with a heavy-duty compressor,
cooling coil, fan and stabiliser, all fixed at the
bottom of a big box. They help in maintaining a constant
temperature of 0-4 degrees centigrade inside the box
which allows the body to remain fresh. The 68 kg porgue
can work on main powerlines or a genset and the body
can be preserved for several days, so long as there
is power supply. The porgue has an air tight lid and
a glass topped portion from where the body can be
viewed.
"The
box does not require any ice cubes to keep
it cool. Compressor cooling coil freezes the box and
keeps the body fresh. It runs with the help of 230
voltage power and can be operated even with a generator,"
says Mr Jai Chandra, brother of Shantakumar and
Proprietor of the Jyothi Agencies located at Medinova
Complex. "When a person dies the body gets
decomposed within 24 hours. Normally, the body is
preserved by the process of embalming which is an
expensive and a complicated process. But the Body
Freezer Box is affordable on rental basis and is easy
to operate," says Mr Jai Chandra.
The demand for the box is increasing
in the market and many people are approaching Jyothi
Agencies for the Body Freezer Box. Christians, Hindus
and Muslims - all use this box to safeguard the body
from decomposing. "We supply the box freely
for those people living below the poverty line and
we charge nominal rates for the middle class people,"
says Mr Jai Chandra. Hiring the equipment for a day
costs between Rs 2,500/- and Rs 3,000/- and can be
bought for Rs 1.5 lakh.
The bodies of former Chief Minister
K Vijayabhaskar Reddy, former Home Minister Mr Madhava
Reddy and IPS officer Umesh Chandra were kept in the
Body Freezer Box for public viewing. Many hospitals
including Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences and
Apollo Hospitals are increasingly dependent on the
Body Freezer Box for the preservation of dead bodies.
Address:
Jyothi Agencies
Kautilya Apartments
Cellar, Beside Medinova
Somajiguda
Hyderabad-500 082
Phone: 339 3401, 666 3395
Cell: 98490 49215
Head Office:
Jyothi Agencies
69, Outer Circular Road
Kilpack Garden Colony, Kilpack
Chennai - 600 010
Phone: 644 1217, 644 2355
Fax: 6474100
E-mail: prmmsk@md3.vsnl.net.in
