PPCB shuts 4 hospitals, takes bank guarantee of 34

PATIALA: Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on Saturday closed down four hospitals and obtained bank guarantee ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh from 34 hospitals of the state, which were found violating various norms of management and handling of Bio-Medical Waste Rules-1998 (BMW).
Around 15 days back the defaulting hospitals were served with show-cause notices and their respective authorities were summoned to Patiala head office of PPCB, last Monday, to listen to the replies.Three major violators including Delhi Heart Institute & Research Centre, Bathinda, Navjiwan Nursing Home, Sarhali Road, Taran-Tarn and Shahi Hospital, Amloh have been served the closure orders with immediate effect while M/s Jindal Nursing Home Railway Road, Malerkotla has been restrained from any clinical activity for seven days. The board authorities have formed special teams to monitor the implementation of new orders and assistant environmental engineer of the board will monitor it personally.
"Eight hospitals have been prosecuted under Environment (Protection) Act-1986. Once charges are proved in the court, chief executive of the hospital shall be liable for imprisonment of five years and/or fine upto 1 lakh. Bank guarantees amounting to more then 20 lakh have been obtained from 34 hospitals with a strict condition that if any of these hospitals is found violating the norms of BMW rules during one year, the bank guarantee will be in cashed as the penalty without serving any notice." said PPCB chairman Kahan Singh Pannu.
About remaining 23 hospitals, Pannu said, "The remaining hospitals with minor violations were let off after obtaining an undertaking that they will comply with all the conditions in future as laid down under BMW rules and no further notice will be served for closure, if any of these hospitals was found violating the said norms." He warned that inspections and raids by the teams of Punjab Pollution Control Board shall be a regular feature and the board shall adopt zero tolerance policy in this regard. He had appealed to the doctors to take care of their bio-medical waste as per the prescribed rules as it is their professional, moral and legal duty.
To check the violation of Bio-Medical Waste Rules, 22 teams were sent to conduct raids through out the state on July 2. These teams were headed by senior environmental engineers and environmental engineers of the board. Total 108 hospitals were raided that day.