The National Green Tribunal today said several government hospitals, including the AIIMS and RML, have not "remedied all shortcomings" in disposal of biomedical waste and set up a committee to ensure they fully comply with disposal rules
The National Green Tribunal today said several government hospitals, including the AIIMS and RML, have not "remedied all shortcomings" in disposal of biomedical waste and set up a committee to ensure they fully comply with disposal rules.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar passed the order after the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), which inspected the hospitals, said while government hospitals have complied with most of the rules of BMW disposal, they are yet to be fully compliant.
"These hospitals have not remedied all shortcomings and have not fully complied with disposal of biomedical waste. Unfortunately, most are government hospitals and deal with a larger section of society.
"We are of the considered view that it may not be fruitful to direct prosecution of Medical Superintendents or Directors of the hospitals, but we make it clear that compliance of shortcomings and deficiencies be done at the earliest.
"To ensure complete compliance of the rules by these hospitals, dealing with large number of people, we set up a committee to inspect all the nine hospitals before next date of hearing and place a comprehensive report before us," the bench said. The bench made it clear that it is giving a last opportunity to the hospitals to fully comply with the waste disposal rules.
Apart from the AIIMS and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML), the other hospitals which have not fully complied with the BMW disposal rules are Maharaja Agrasen, Northern Railways Central, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Lala Ram Swaroop Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, MVID and two ESI hospitals in Rohini and Basai Darapur.
The committee will comprise Member Secretaries of Central Pollution Control Board and DPCC as well as senior scientists nominated by head of the department of Environment Protection Training and Research Institute [EPTRI], Hyderabad.
The committee has been tasked with inspecting all nine hospitals and "place on record as to whether BMW rules are being complied with in all respects, particularly in relation to collection, segregation and disposal of BMW".
The committee was also directed to inspect eight other hospitals, including Safdarjung, Lady Hardinge, Kalawati Saran, Suchitra Kriplani, Bara Hindu Rao and Lok Nayak Hospital, "which were stated to have partially complied with the rules but certain steps remained to be taken".
Meanwhile, DPCC was directed to inspect the private hospitals in the city to check whether they are complying with BMW disposal rules. On August 6, the NGT had observed that nine city hospitals including the premier AIIMS are violating rules for collection and disposal of municipal solid waste with "impunity".
The NGT had observed that these hospitals need to take immediate steps for proper collection and disposal of waste to fully comply with rules and that non-compliance will result in action against their medical superintendents and other senior officials.
The tribunal had also asked the authorities concerned to file an appropriate report, positively by August 23. On July 19, the NGT had directed DPCC and Central Pollution Control Board to conduct a survey of all the hospitals which were violating municipal solid waste rules and to place a comprehensive report as to whether they are complying with the tribunal's directions to implement waste management rules.
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