HYDERABAD: An inspection of a vacant plot-turned-dumping site in Quthbullapur by Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) has exposed how biomedical waste from well-known hospitals and diagnostic centres in Hyderabad is ending up with scrap dealers rather than getting disposed of as per the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.
A whopping 9.96 tonnes of biomedical waste was lifted from the dumping site by the TSPCB after the inspection. The waste included needles, syringes, vials, used cotton and gloves, discarded medicines and IV bags. After going through the biomedical waste, TSPCB found that the waste bags had labels of 20 healthcare establishments (HCE).
The HCEs were Yashoda Hospital (Secunderabad), KIMS Hospital (Minister Road), Olive Hospital (Mehdipatnam), Omni Hospital (Kukatpally), Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust R&D Centre (Jubilee Hills), St Theresa Hospital, ESIC Medical College (Sanathnagar), Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Formulation Tech OPS Unit (Bachupally), Remedy Hospital (Kukatpally), Metro Polis Health Care Ltd, CPath Labs (Madhapur), Green Leaf Health Centre (Kukatpally), BBR Blood Bank (Balanagar), Call Health Services (Gachibowli), Sri Krishna Sai Diagnostics (Ameerpet), Deccan Hospitals (Somajiguda), Balaji Diagnostic Center and Research Unit (Himayatnagar) and three branches of Yclin Labs. The biomedical waste was later shifted to a disposal facility.
FIR lodged, one person arrested
TSPCB lodged a complaint with Jeedimetla police who registered an FIR under Section 336 dealing with an Act endangering life or personal safety of others and Sec 285 dealing with negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter.
Police officials said that a scrap dealer, Rahim, had already been arrested. It was found that Rahim used to procure biomedical waste from workers of a biomedical waste collection agency who collect waste from hospitals.
The vacant plot in Quthbullapur has been taken on rent by Rahim for dumping the waste and segregating it for recycling. He has been doing this for the past six months.
There are four authorised agencies which collect biomedical waste from HCEs in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts. Of these, Medicare Environmental Management Pvt Ltd has been found to be serving all the 20 HCEs whose biomedical waste bags were found at the dumping site.
The agency told TSPCB that it was following all procedures as per rules and that it has also filed a police complaint on the issue. P Satyanarayana Reddy, member-secretary, TSPCB, said show-cause notices were sent to 20 HCEs from where biomedical waste ended up at dumping site at Quthbullapur. Reddy said, “If healthcare establishments do not give a satisfactory reply to the notice, we will prosecute them under the Environment Protection Act. If they are found guilty, it can lead to hefty fines as well as imprisonment.”