9 key government hospitals ordered to close for non-
compliance on installation of effluent treatment plants.
Here’s bad news. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) on Thursday asked nine key hospitals in Bangalore to shut down after they failed to follow a Lok Adalat directive on the setting up effluent treatment plants (ETPs) in their premises.
The KSPCB has told the government hospitals to stop admitting new patients from Friday. It, in fact, has given them a 15-day deadline to follow the order. The hospitals that have been issued notices are KC General hospital, Malleswaram, General Hospital, Jayanagar, Hajee Sir Ismail Sait Gousia Hospital, Tasker Town, SDS TB Rajiv Gandhi Institute Of Chest Diseases, Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, Shivajinagar, Minto Eye Hospital, Chamrajpet, Vanivilas Hospital, Vanivilas road, Victoria Hospital, KR Road, and Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Dr MH Marigowda road.
The move could badly hit the city’s swine flu action plan because the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) is the only centre monitoring such cases. The closure of more than half of the total 17 government hospitals in the city is bad news for patients from the middle, lower-middle and lower classes of the society.
Of the 17 hospitals, eight had followed the ETPs directive, but the rest failed to do so. The KSPCB asked the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) to stop water and power connections to these hospitals within 15 days. It has also directed the Bangalore urban district commissioner to ensure the order is followed.
The order came up after Lok Adalat directed the KSPCB to take action against hospitals without ETPs.
The Lok Adalat has given a week’s time for the government to come out with a comprehensive plan for setting up of ETPs in these hospitals. The matter will come up for hearing before the Lok Adalat on June 25. “We will explain the measures taken to treat the effluents coming out of these hospitals and will install additional equipment if needed within the given time limit,” IR Perumal, principal secretary, department of health and family welfare, told DNA.
Patients hitThere are 17 government hospitals in the city. The closure of these nine key hospitals will impact a huge section of the city, especially those from the middle and lower-middle class.
Bad for h1n1The move could badly hit the city’s swine flu action plan because the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) is the only centre monitoring such cases. The RGICD has been treating suspected and confirmed swine flu cases.
What’s next The Lok Adalat has given a week’s time for the government to come out with a comprehensive plan for setting up of ETPs in these hospitals. The matter will come up for hearing before the Lok Adalat on June 25.
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