HYDERABAD: Shocking as it may sound, as many as 20 city hospitals, including some reputed institutes from both private and government sectors, have been found blatantly flouting the bio-medical waste management norms and
dumping medical
waste on open land.
The Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) said it was surprised to find two top private hospital chains based in Secunderabad, a hospital run by a charitable trust in Jubilee Hills, a top hospital chain in Kukatpally as well as a leading hospital at Raj Bhavan Road and a diagnostic centre at Himayatnagar, among others, violating the bio-medical waste management norms.
In a recent inspection conducted by the TSPCB, as much as 9.98 tonnes of biomedical waste was found lying in a plot of land at Quthbullapur.
“These hospitals were dumping the waste in open land at Quthbullapur. We could identify these hospitals, because the waste was dumped in plastic covers of these hospitals. In some cases, the waste also had tags from these hospitals,“ N Raveendhar, a senior environmental scientist, TSPCB, told TOI. Bio-medical waste can trig ger life-threatening diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis and other ailments. Those handling this hazardous dump live in fear of being pricked by syringe needles carrying illnesses. Worse, there is no record of liquid bio-medical waste like blood, which flows from hospitals into sewage lines.
Following the discovery , officials are planning on prosecuting these hospitals under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.
“We are also going to set up a taskforce, to inspect these hospitals, and take action against them,“ he added.
Citing estimates, officials of the board said that biomedical waste generated from all the hospitals in and around
Hyderabad amounts
to about seven tonnes every day . There are about 800-odd big and small hospitals that perform various medical and surgical procedures, generating a lot of medical and biological waste.
“The rules stipulate that any bio-medical waste from hospitals must be incinerated. We have booked cases against all the
violating hospitals
and appropriate action will be taken as per the law,“ said a senior official from the board.
Authorities at TSPCB said they have filed a complaint at Jeedimetla police station, asking them to investigate more into the case and identify the hospitals violating norms.“The board has also conducted a meeting with
healthcare establishments
and showcause notices were issued to the healthcare establishments whose labels were found. We expect them to respond to these allegations immediately ,“ said Raveendhar.
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