Bio Medical Waste Disposal Negligence
M4PNews|Chandigarh
Punjab Pollution Control Board in its detailed report to Ministry to Environment and Forest said that they found PGIMER at its fault in disposing the Bio Medical Waste. In the detailed report PPCB said that their team firstly raided Chandan Kumar Kabaria, where they observed that huge quantity of recyclable untreated plastic bio-medical waste including glucose bottles, gloves, IV lines, urine bags, syringes was stored in the godown of kabaria. The color coded bags were having the mark of JMK enterprises. The source of waste was asked from the kabaria, wherein he intimated that class-IV workers of the PGI, Chandigarh comes to sells this waste and he was ignorant about the toxic nature of waste. Meanwhile, the waste was weighed and the quantity was 784 kgs. The Kabaria intimated that one big kabaria in Village Parch is a big dealer in such waste which segregates the waste and sells in Delhi.
Village Parch found on way 2 rickshaws carrying bio-medical waste in black bags. The rickshaw pullers were stopped on the way and they were asked from where they have received the waste. They said that they are taking the waste to Govind kabaria in Village Parch and one employee of PGI is coming behind them who is the owner of the waste. The PGI employee coming on Activa (PB) was stopped. He was asked to show his identity card. As per the identity card, his name is Ramesh Kumar and he is a employee of Lion Services Limited, Chandigarh deployed at PGIMER, Chandigarh. Ramesh Kumar said that he is not aware about the waste but the rickshaw pullers intimated that he has only put the waste in their rickshaws. It was observed that the red bags were packed in 9 big blacks bags. The waste was sent to authorized CBWTF of PPCB, M/s Rainbow Environments Pvt. Ltd., Village Balyali, SAS Nagar. Meanwhile, Ramesh Kumar ran away.
Whereas Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) today served notices on the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, and Government Multispecialty Hospital, Sector 16, in connection with the seizure of biomedical waste from Dhanas on August 18.Pawanjit Singh Dadwal, Member Secretary, CPCC, said the hospitals had been asked to explain how biomedical waste was sneaked out of the hospital.The hospitals have been given 15 days to explain the same, failing which an FIR will be registered against the guilty in the case.On the other hand, Manju Wadwalkar, Public Relation Officer of the PGIMER, said the matter had been reported to the police and an investigation was on.
The hospital has been equipped with incinerator and crusher for destroying the biomedical waste.“If any biomedical waste of the hospital was recovered, it would have been illegally taken out. The culprit will be brought to the book,” reiterated Wadwalkar.The committee had yesterday conducted a closed-door meeting with the authorities of various government and private hospitals at the Paryavaran Bhawan in Sector 19 to discuss the issue.
The hospital authorities were asked to provide details on how these hospitals were dumping their garbage. Representatives of the PGI, the GMCH-32, and the GMSH-16 were told that the recovered biomedical waste from Dhanas belong to the three hospitals and the CPCC had served notices on the hospitals today.If the three hospitals will not come up with a satisfactory reply, then the CPCC will lodge an FIR against them.Firstly, the Punjab Pollution Control Board and later, the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee had seized 9.35 tonnes of biomedical waste from the Naya Gaon and Dhanas areas, respectively, on August 18 and 19.
A scrap dealer, identified as Upender, who was caught by the PPCB, had maintained that the biomedical waste was being taken to Delhi for recycling.Sources said the PPCB today sent a report to the Ministry of Environment in this regard.