HYDERABAD: In a bid to strengthen oversight of hazardous waste management, the Environment Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI) will conduct a statewide survey to identify gaps in bio-medical waste (BMW) generation and handling across healthcare facilities.
The exercise, part of a comprehensive Bio-Medical Waste Gap Analysis study, will cover almost the entire state, excluding Wanaparthy district, and aims to bring unregistered and non-compliant units under the regulatory net.
According to TGPCB, the state has an estimated 12,000–15,000 healthcare facilities and other BMW-generating units. While many are registered, officials believe a significant number remain unaccounted for or fail to comply with waste management norms. The survey will map the actual number of operational facilities against those registered with authorities and linked to authorised common bio-medical waste treatment facilities.
EPTRI has invited Expressions of Interest from NGOs, which will be deployed district-wise to carry out field inspections and collect real-time data from BMW-generating units.
The survey will assess key compliance indicators, including registration of healthcare facilities with TGPCB and CBMWTFs, linkage with authorised treatment facilities, and adherence to norms on segregation, storage, collection and disposal of bio-medical waste. It will also examine actual waste generation against permitted limits and identify unlinked or non-compliant facilities. The exercise will be fully digital.
Officials say the data-driven survey will help improve enforcement, infrastructure planning and environmental safety by providing a district-wise picture of compliance levels and identifying regulatory gaps.