Biomedical waste ‘making its way’ to isolated places
Margao: Medical waste from several healthcare facilities is making its way to the isolated places, including hill tops, besides at Margao Municipal Council waste bins as the civic body has refused to collect any biomedical waste from the hospitals and health care facilities, operating in its jurisdiction.
Even though it is mandatory for these health care facilities to register with the government-approved Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF), located at Kundaim, for scientifically treating their waste, most of them are dillydallying on it.
The survey conducted by M/s Biotic Waste Solution Pvt Ltd, the government-approved biomedical waste treatment facility, through its south Goa in-charge recently, indicated that there are in all 303 such health care facilities including hospitals operating in Salcete, and maximum of them are within the MMC jurisdiction and they generate nearly 4-odd tonne of biomedical waste daily. Interestingly, just 40 have registered so far.
“We have warned these health care facilities to register with Biotic firm for treating their biomedical waste. The MMC is not collecting their biomedical waste as per the direction of the government. How to dispose of the hospital waste is their problem, because they earn on it. We will take action if their waste is found dumped in or around the MMC waste bins or at the roadsides,” said the chief officer of MMC Agnelo Fernandes.
Fernandes had received several complaints recently about the biomedical waste being found in the MMC waste bins and that had compelled him to hold a meeting with the representatives of the health care facilities on October 18.
“The ball is in their court now,” he added.
When contacted to know how the Margao-based hospitals and clinics are disposing of their waste, president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Margao, Dr Babita Prabhudesai said that many of them are treating their waste scientifically.
“Hospitals have started registering with the Kundaim-based agency for treating their waste. We have held meeting recently to underline the need. Many doctors are facing difficulty in registering online. The procedure has to be simplified for faster registration,” she opined.
When pointed out that biomedical waste including syringes often found dumped at the MMC waste bins, she denied it.
Sources informed that several healthcare facilities are treating their waste, but many others have accumulated such biomedical waste in their backyards for want of disposal facility, while sizeable quantity of such waste made its way to the isolated places – hill tops, and nullahs.
Interestingly, a group of citizens had recently filed a petition in court praying for disposing of the biomedical waste accumulated at Sonsoddo, and the court had asked the MMC to remove it.
An advocate representing the civic body had submitted that Goa State Pollution Control Board had appointed an agency to care of it.