India, June 9 -- Nearly nine years after a Colaba resident launched a campaign over the shocking condition of the St George Hospital's mortuary, located in Fort, the hospital is set to inaugurate a new Rs.5-crore facility on Tuesday, ending a long civic battle marked by bureaucratic delays, site disputes and infrastructure hurdles.

Built with state government funding, the new facility replaces the hospital's old mortuary, which had long been criticised for poor conditions. Hospital authorities said the upgraded mortuary will also serve as a teaching centre for undergraduate medical students.

St George's Hospital medical superintendent Vinayak Sawardekar said, "It will be a mortuary housing official facilities. There will be capacity for...