Putting ragpickers’ lives at serious risk, contractors pay them to collect waste, and then reuse them without proper treatment
Wearing used rubber gloves, Manthalesh sifts syringes, blood bags, and empty glucose bottles from a heap of garbage. After segregating the harmful medical waste, she puts the items in black polythene bags, which has 'Danger: Bio-Hazard' in bold letters. But the 26-year-old doesn't seem terribly concerned, for she has never been to a school and cannot read the damning warning.
"If you want, I can offer you a fair deal," she says, without breaking her pace.
Inside the Civil Hospital campus, just a few metres from the entrance, an open pit sends an invitation to everyone to make a good business out of medical waste. But the bio-medical waste has been mixed with regular waste, giving rise to an overwhelming stench, sending the visitors in opposite direction with handkerchiefs on their noses.
And it is not just the Civil Hospital. This is a common sight at various healthcare facilities in Gurugram, which flout the Bio-medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, and Bio-Medical Handling Rules of 1998, directed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFFC), with impunity.
According to the 1998 rules, healthcare waste should be segregated in the following categories: syringes, saline bottles, and gloves in red containers; blood-soaked cotton and bandages in yellow containers; pills and pharmaceutical waste in blue containers; and sharp waste and glass in black containers.
The waste is then to be treated at the Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF).
The waste segregation and treatment is mandatory for hospitals because some of it is highly infectious, and especially hazardous when mixed with general waste.
DNA, however, found that many of the public and private healthcare facilities in Gurugram have no separate plan for bio-medical waste treatment. When queried about the issue, Kanta Goyal, Principal Medical Officer of the Civil Hospital, says: "We have assigned the process to contractors. They deal with the waste."
In fact, most authorities showed similar cavalier approach towards waste management.
"My dentist told me that most dental clinics in the city were giving the waste to small contractors, who charged a nominal fee. They are not concerned about how this waste is being disposed off," says Harish Capoor, member of the Clean Gurgaon group.
The illegal contract system is thriving because of the violation of bio-medical treatment Acts.
Sources say tonnes of used syringes and bottles from these healthcare centres were being recycled and reused daily.
Meanwhile, at her home, a tarpaulin shack on a dusty, barren piece of land, two women from Manthalesh's family segregate syringes while her father-in-law Ramkumar prepares a package for their contractor.
"They have a recycling business. Every week, we prepare a bulk of their demand," Ramkumar says. The price of the waste is usually fixed: Rs 30 for syringes and Rs 45 for glucose bottles.
"My husband used to do this work until he was diagnosed with cancer. Then I took it up," says Manthalesh, who also cleans toilets for a living. Small children can be seen playing near the mounds of waste collected from various hospitals, clinics, and pathology labs, while women work without any safety kit.
However, the much bigger problem is of highly infectious syringes and glucose bottles being reused without proper treatment.
More than a dozen contractors, locally called Thekedars, are active in the main Gurugram area, who are responsible for getting this waste back in the market.
"We buy syringes, blood bags, and glucose bottles from ragpickers, wash the waste, and resend it to the market, especially in small towns of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, with new packaging. Nothing gets wasted," says Kamlal, who works for a Thekedar.
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), a watchdog body for pollution and environment, has authorised a private company named Vulcan Waste Management to dispose the bio-medical waste in the entire district.
The company has a CBWTF on the outskirts of the city and can treat only four tonnes of waste daily. The rest goes to ragpickers and then to Thekedars, who sell it for lower prices in smaller towns.
"We collect waste only from the clinics that have registered with the HSPCB. Most of the smaller clinics and pathology labs in the city discharge untreated waste," Vulcan Director Kuldeep Singh says.
When contacted, Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon officials told DNA that they have no separate plan for the bio-medical waste and common waste.
"Violation of rules can lead to a court case or complete closure of the healthcare facility," says Bhupender Singh, Regional Officer, HSPCB. He further says only about 350 healthcare centres have registered with the body.
Gurugram-based environmental activist Ruchika Sethi says: "The health hazards of bio-medical waste are extremely high. Incorrect disposal and recycling directly impacts public health, and contaminates both groundwater and soil."
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "ragpickers")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}