The non-payment of monthly fees for the express cleaning service (ECS) by the hospitals and nursing homes of the city has rendered the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials helpless.
ECS is a special service provided by BMC for speedy disposal of non-organic waste and medical garbage generated by the hospitals.
To avail the service, the hospitals have to deposit service charge of Rs 4,000 per month. Despite non-payment of the fees, BMC continues to provide ECS to the hospitals and nursing homes in the City.
As per BMC records, there are 149 hospitals and nursing homes in the City. Even though it is mandatory for all hospitals under BMC limits to register for ECS, only 50 hospitals and nursing homes have registered till date.
Out of 50 registered hospitals, 17 are paying the service charges and that too not regularly. The City Health Officer (CHO) under BMC is responsible for registering the hospitals under the ECS scheme.
BMC Commissioner Sanjib Mishra has taken up the issue of non-cooperation by the hospital authorities by shooting off a letter to the Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) recently.
Mishra has mentioned that despite several reminders, the hospitals are not paying the fees regularly.