The State Pollution Control Board will soon prepare a list of healthcare facilities in Ernakulam functioning without its authorisation for treatment and disposal of biomedical waste.
A preliminary assessment revealed that more than 50% of the healthcare institutions lacked the authorisation to manage the biomedical waste generated on a daily basis. The board had recently submitted the status report on the healthcare facilities in Idukki not having the authorisation from the board for treatment and disposal of biomedical waste.
The list was submitted before the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal in the case related to the lack of implementation of the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016 in the State. The tribunal had asked the board to file a detailed report on the action taken against the violators.
Senior board officials said that all institutions under the Directorate of Animal Husbandry; Directorate of Health Services; Director, Ayurveda Medical Education; Directorate of Medical Education; Indian System of Medicine; Directorate of Homoeopathy; State Mission Director, National Health Mission; Directorate of Panchayats; Director, Urban Local Body and private medical facilities, including clinics, would have to obtain consent from the board for treatment and disposal of biomedical waste.
The majority of the generators here were found to be depending on the Indian Medical Association Goes Ecofriendly (IMAGE) facility in Palakkad for disposal of the biomedical waste. Some of the healthcare facilities have incinerators. However, the spike in the quantity of the biomedical waste generated in the wake of the pandemic had exposed the gaps in the actual quantity of waste generated and the the waste treated through the IMAGE facility.
The report filed before the NGT pointed out that the total quantity of biomedical waste generated was 42,932 kg daily. The total biomedical waste treated and disposed of through the IMAGE facility was 36,853 kg per day while the corresponding figure of waste treated in captive treatment facilities was 3,557 kg daily.
The board has stressed the need for improved cooperation by local bodies in ensuring the implementation of the biomedical management rules by not giving/renewing licence to the healthcare facilities which do not have the board’s authorisation.