MUMBAI: The 13/7 blasts could not have come at a worse time for the state's six forensic science laboratories (FSLs). Not only are they grappling with thousands of pending tests, but also with a staff shortage of more than 35%.
In the face of test samples pouring in from the blast sites, the government has called a meeting with the director, FSL, Maharashtra, to fill up the vacancies promptly. The meeting is scheduled for Friday. The laboratories combined have 315 vacancies out of a sanctioned strength of 892. In Mumbai, the lab in Kalina has a backlog of over 10,000 tests and 95 vacancies out of a sanctioned strength of 317.
The vacancies, unfilled for years, and a dependence on contractual staff have led to samples for viscera (the large organs inside the body, including the heart, stomach, lungs and intestines), DNA and ballistic (bullet and ammunition) tests remaining untouched for months. Some tests, including cyber, speaker identification and polygraph, are pending for over one and a half years. Viscera samples alone account for 11,000 pending tests, 3,000 at the Kalina lab. These samples could hold the key to murder and suicide cases, as could ballistic and fingerprint samples, over 400 of which are awaiting analysis. The count of chemical samples is long lost.
MV Garad, director of the Kalina lab, said: "Cases that require to be dealt with urgently or those of public health importance are handled with extra speed and efficiency. Other cases are taken up on a routine basis."
He said that on Wednesday, after the blasts, teams from the lab visited Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar and collected a few cotton swabs; the reports were submitted to the state home department in a day.
Recently, he said, evidence pertaining to the J Dey murder and the Karjat rave party were examined immediately and the reports handed over to investigating agencies.
About the vacancies, he said 71 chemical analyzers have recently been recruited through the state public service commission and should join work in a month or two; also, the big shortage of class III and IV staffers, who assist the experts, is being looked into. "These posts could take a while to fill as the state has frozen recruitments for a while."
Adding to delays is a perennial shortage of chemicals, said a lab source. "The procurement of chemicals is not smooth, and is often stuck in bureaucratic procedure. It affects the testing of samples, some of which, like DNA samples, pour in at a rate of 10 a day. At times, the delay in getting chemicals stretches to two or three months as the laboratories do not have the authority to make purchases on their own."
FSL purchases are at present under the director general of police.
In the face of test samples pouring in from the blast sites, the government has called a meeting with the director, FSL, Maharashtra, to fill up the vacancies promptly. The meeting is scheduled for Friday. The laboratories combined have 315 vacancies out of a sanctioned strength of 892. In Mumbai, the lab in Kalina has a backlog of over 10,000 tests and 95 vacancies out of a sanctioned strength of 317.
The vacancies, unfilled for years, and a dependence on contractual staff have led to samples for viscera (the large organs inside the body, including the heart, stomach, lungs and intestines), DNA and ballistic (bullet and ammunition) tests remaining untouched for months. Some tests, including cyber, speaker identification and polygraph, are pending for over one and a half years. Viscera samples alone account for 11,000 pending tests, 3,000 at the Kalina lab. These samples could hold the key to murder and suicide cases, as could ballistic and fingerprint samples, over 400 of which are awaiting analysis. The count of chemical samples is long lost.
MV Garad, director of the Kalina lab, said: "Cases that require to be dealt with urgently or those of public health importance are handled with extra speed and efficiency. Other cases are taken up on a routine basis."
He said that on Wednesday, after the blasts, teams from the lab visited Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar and collected a few cotton swabs; the reports were submitted to the state home department in a day.
Recently, he said, evidence pertaining to the J Dey murder and the Karjat rave party were examined immediately and the reports handed over to investigating agencies.
About the vacancies, he said 71 chemical analyzers have recently been recruited through the state public service commission and should join work in a month or two; also, the big shortage of class III and IV staffers, who assist the experts, is being looked into. "These posts could take a while to fill as the state has frozen recruitments for a while."
Adding to delays is a perennial shortage of chemicals, said a lab source. "The procurement of chemicals is not smooth, and is often stuck in bureaucratic procedure. It affects the testing of samples, some of which, like DNA samples, pour in at a rate of 10 a day. At times, the delay in getting chemicals stretches to two or three months as the laboratories do not have the authority to make purchases on their own."
FSL purchases are at present under the director general of police.
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