LUCKNOW, Dec. 24 -- The city's only postmortem house, which is located on the King George Medical University (KGMU) premises, has allegedly run out of shrouds and plastic sheets that are used to cover bodies after the procedure, and, thus, was asking families to arrange them at their own expense. The allegation was raised by the relatives whom this reporter met outside the postmortem house on Monday and Tuesday and sources in the local health administration. The sources said in September, only about 3,000 metres of cloth were supplied, far less than the 10,000 metres demand raised by the postmortem house staff. Officials said the supplied cloth would last for just over a month. They explained that wrapping a single body required nearly five metres of cloth and three metres of plastic sheet. "With the postmortem house running out of supplies, grieving families are left with no option but to buy these items from carts operating just outside the KGMU gate," they said. "The staff told us to bring cloth and plastic sheets because they were not available inside. I had to pay Rs.400 for them," the wife of a road accident victim said on Monday. "I bought the shroud and sheet for Rs.400 from a cart right in front of the gate. At that moment, we had no choice but to buy them," a man said on Tuesday as he waited there to receive his father's body after the latter's death in a road accident. Another relative, whose father-in-law was killed in an accident, said: "Everyone is sent outside to buy the material. The price is fixed at Rs.400. It is painful to bargain or argue with the shopkeeper at such a time." Health officials, however, denied the allegations of a prolonged shortage of supplies. Chief medical officer Dr NB Singh said supplies were provided promptly after a demand was raised. "The requirement is sent by the postmortem house staff, and the next day the desired items are supplied," he said. However, the House staff said they had raised a demand for shrouds only last month....