CUTTACK: AS disposal of biomedical waste at SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) continues to be hit due to a defunct incinerator, the Orissa High Court has said that the matter is a serious one and needs immediate attention.
Hearing a PIL on Monday on the issue filed in 2013 by Maitree Sansad, a Cuttack-based social service organisation, a division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik said in order to demonstrate that the issue is very much alive, petitioner’s counsel Ajay Mohanty has produced a letter dated January 12,2021 which was addressed by SCBMCH Superintendent to the RDC (Central). The letter stated that an estimate of Rs 20 lakh had been sent to the Director of Medical Education and Training but it was not responded to.
“It is clear from this letter that one of the major hospitals in Cuttack is still facing difficulties in disposing of biomedical waste on account of a broken incinerator. This is a serious matter which needs immediate attention,” the bench observed and directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Health) to examine the issue and immediately repair the incinerator at SCBMCH if it has not been done yet.
The bench directed that state-of-the-art incinerators be provided to the SCBMCH and other government hospitals across the State. It also directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Health) to file an affidavit in this regard by May 13 and fixed May 18 as the next day of hearing on the matter.
Biomedical waste management in SCBMCH is in shambles as the lone incinerator has been lying defunct and posing a threat to the environment, health, and hygiene of patients. The premier government-run hospital generates around 10 tonnes of bio-medical waste per day. But the defunct incinerator has affected the safe disposal of hazardous waste.
The incinerator was installed at SCBMCH more than a decade ago. Having a one-tonne capacity, the facility was used for the combustion of waste in presence of oxygen in a controlled way in order to destroy it or transform it into less hazardous, less bulky or more controllable constituents. However, the facility has been lying defunct for nearly two years due to a lack of maintenance and repair.