A long-running dispute between Dhaka’s two city corporations over burial sites has left 28 unclaimed bodies decaying in hospital morgues, creating a severe health and humanitarian concern.
Of the bodies, 22 remain stored at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) morgue, while another six are lying at Sir Salimullah Medical College (Mitford Hospital). The crisis has emerged because the South Dhaka City Corporation is responsible for the Jurain graveyard, and the North Dhaka City Corporation manages the Rayerbazar martyrs’ memorial cemetery – both designated for unclaimed burials.
The deadlock began when South City declared that only one-third of unclaimed bodies could be interred at Jurain each month. North City, meanwhile, announced that Raeybazar would be used solely for bodies from its own area, refusing to accept any from South Dhaka.
This standoff has resulted in severe overcrowding at hospital morgues. At DMCH, 22 corpses have been kept in storage, while Mitford Hospital has held six bodies for over a week. With refrigeration systems broken, particularly at Mitford where the freezer has been out of order since 2014, bodies are being kept at room temperature, leading to decomposition and foul odours.
Jurain graveyard covers 17.6 acres of land, whereas Raeybazar cemetery spans 96.23 acres. The only private organisation handling unclaimed burials, Anjuman Mufidul Islam, has been exchanging letters with both city corporations to resolve the issue but without success.
On August 18, the North Dhaka City Corporation sent a letter to Anjuman, citing limited space at Rayerbazar and prohibiting burials of South City’s bodies there. In response, Anjuman wrote to the South Dhaka City Corporation requesting a clear decision about where unclaimed bodies from the southern zone should be laid to rest.
The dispute has a long history. In March 2023, Anjuman informed the South Dhaka City Corporation that burials at Jurain could no longer continue because of overcrowding. Two months later, on May 22, the Dhaka South City Corporation formally asked the organisation to stop bringing new unclaimed bodies there. By November 18, 2023, burials at Jurain had completely stopped. Later, in December, South City allowed one-third of the bodies to be buried at the graveyard, but due to delays in grave preparation, burials did not resume until July 16, 2024.
Since then, some progress has been made. In July, 19 bodies were buried at Jurain, followed by 21 in August. A total of 500 burial plots across 20 rows have been earmarked for unclaimed bodies, with the same graves reopened after 18 months for reuse. As of August 31, however, 22 bodies still remain at DMCH. Anjuman confirmed that starting September 1, they will remove five bodies per day until the morgue is cleared.
At Mitford Hospital, morgue assistant Shyamol Chandra Das reported that six unclaimed bodies have been kept for more than a week in non-refrigerated conditions. The malfunctioning freezer, out of order for over a decade, has forced staff to leave the corpses at ambient temperature, causing rapid decay.
Under the Local Government (City Corporation) Act of 2009, city corporations are legally bound to arrange the burial or cremation of unclaimed bodies at their own expense, with a designated budget for the process.
The Dhaka South City Corporation’s Chief of Social Welfare and Slum Development Mohammad Mobasher Hasan, defended the decision to bury only one-third of the bodies at Jurain, saying the arrangement, introduced in 2017 due to space shortages, was a reasonable compromise. “No one wishes to stop burials,” he said. “Since the Dhaka North City Corporation still has space at Rayerbazar, Anjuman can coordinate with them for a long-term solution.”
Jurain cemetery clerk Mohammad Aminul Islam said burials of unclaimed bodies had been paused earlier because of necessary repair work but resumed in July. He added that the new burial system designates 500 graves across 20 rows for unclaimed corpses.
With morgues now overflowing and bodies decomposing due to inadequate preservation, the dispute between the two city corporations continues to cause distress and raises urgent questions about Dhaka’s capacity to ensure dignified treatment for the unclaimed dead.
