NDMA Guidelines for Disaster Victim Identification:
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has released India’s first-ever national guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) to ensure scientific identification and dignified handover of human remains during mass fatality incidents.
- Titled “National Disaster Management Guidelines on Comprehensive Disaster Victim Identification and Management”, the document was released, marking 25 years since the 2001 Gujarat earthquake.
Key Provisions of NDMA Guidelines on Disaster Victim Identification:
- The guidelines became urgent after a series of major disasters including the Air India crash (Ahmedabad), the Sangareddy chemical factory explosion (Telangana), flash floods (Uttarakhand), and the Delhi’s car bomb blast near Red Fort where victim identification proved difficult.
- The absence of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), shortage of trained manpower and infrastructure, and limitations of traditional identification methods highlighted the need for advanced forensic techniques.
- Most importantly, the guidelines address the humanitarian and legal imperative of ensuring dignity of the dead, timely legal closure, and emotional closure for affected families.
Key Provisions of NDMA DVI Guidelines:
- The guidelines mandate a systematic, four-step protocol for identification to ensure accuracy and prevent mix-ups:
- Systematic Recovery: Careful retrieval of human remains from the disaster site.
- Post-Mortem Data Collection: Gathering data (fingerprints, DNA, dental, physical markers) from the recovered remains.
- Ante-Mortem Data Collection: Collecting medical records, dental history, and physical descriptions from the victims’ families.
- Reconciliation: Scientifically matching the post-mortem data with ante-mortem records to confirm identity before releasing the body.
- A major recommendation is the creation of a dental registry, allowing authorities to use teeth and jaws (which are highly durable) to identify victims when other methods fail.
- The guidelines incorporate forensic archaeology to identify human remains even months or years after a disaster, and strengthen forensic odontology by using dental records as a key tool for accurate victim identification.
- In mass fatality events, the guidelines advise against conducting physical autopsies on all victims.
- The process must respect the community customs of the victims and include emotional support and counseling for families.
- The NDMA has laid out a robust plan to operationalise the guidelines nationwide by establishing specialised state-level forensic teams to handle disaster victim identification.
- It also emphasises targeted training of experts from relevant forensic fields to manage complex scenarios, such as landslides where passenger manifests or records are unavailable.
