National News

SOP on Disaster Victim Identification

February 8 , 2026 12 hrs 0 min 29 0

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) released India’s first-ever Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
It is titled as “Comprehensive Disaster Victim Identification and Management” for identifying victims in mass fatality incidents on Republic Day 2026.
The SOP responds to major disasters in 2025, including the Air India crash (Ahmedabad), chemical factory explosion (Sangareddy, Telangana), Gambhira bridge collapse (Vadodara), flash floods (Dharali, Uttarakhand), and the Delhi car bomb blast.
It prescribes a four-stage identification process: recovery of remains, post-mortem data collection, ante-mortem data from families, reconciliation and release.
A National Dental Data Registry is recommended, as dental records survive disasters and help identify victims.
The SOP integrates forensic disciplines like odontology and archaeology, emphasizes humanitarian forensics, and provides institutional coordination and operational guidelines to address gaps.