A Bench headed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar imposed environment compensation of ₹50,000 each on Lady Hardinge Medical College, Indira Gandhi ESI, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and Lok Nayak hospitals for not complying with solid waste management rules.
Interim report
The NGT order came after it perused an interim report submitted by a committee set up by it. The report had recommended action against the erring bodies for improper management, and treatment of sewage and lacking mechanism to recycle waste.
The NGT had constituted a committee comprising representatives from the Ministries of Environment and Urban Development, the Director General of Health Services, the Medical Council of India, the Delhi Development Authority, the municipal corporations, the Delhi government, the CPCB, the Railways, the DPCC and four independent experts.
The committee was asked to inspect all five-star hotels, hospitals with more than 200 beds, cooperative group housing societies with over 300 flats, markets, shopping malls with a built up area of over 50,000 square metres and colleges with hostels accommodating over 500 students in Delhi.
The NGT directed these hospitals to collect their waste in a segregated form and ensure its disposal at the sites identified for the purpose in accordance with Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. It fixed the matter for hearing on September 4.
On August 18, the NGT had imposed a penalty of ₹2 lakh on Shalimar Bagh-based Fortis Hospital and ₹1.5 lakh each on Max Super Speciality Hospital and Dharamshila Hospital & Research Centre. Other hospitals including Hedgewar Arogya Sansthan, Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital were fined ₹75,000 each.