Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, June 5: As World Environment Day was observed on Tuesday, most of the hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir lack the facilities for bio medical waste management.
World Environment Day is observed on June 5 around a theme that focuses attention on a particularly pressing environmental concern. The theme for the World Environment Day 2018, was "Beat Plastic Pollution".
World Environment Day is the United Nations' (UN) most important day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment.
However, in Jammu and Kashmir, the hospitals lack the facilities for bio medical waste that should have been a main concern for the government and the people alike. It not only pollutes the environment but also endangers the health of people," an official of the Pollution Control Board said.
Despite specific instructions from the PCB, the menace of dumping bio-medical waste in an unscientific manner is going unabated in the region.
Data reveals that around 3, 351 kilograms of such waste is unloaded and disposed-off in the two units at Lassipora and Lasjan daily.
Recently, the Environment Committee under the chairmanship of MLA, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami had expressed dissatisfaction over the working of the treatment plants.
"The segregation of waste and colour coding is not being followed properly in hospitals. Waste segregation is confined to paper only. On the ground, less than 50% has been achieved when it comes to segregating waste," the PCB official said.
Bio medical waste contains a number of infectious bacteria and so it has to be handled very carefully and discharged in a safe manner, in accordance with the provisions of Bio Medical Waste Rules 2016.
According to the 2016 guidelines, waste should be collected in specified colour coded bags, disposal of needles and injections on the site, storage of colour coded bags in specified covered location, treatment and final disposal of waste at the authorized disposal site. Rules further provide implementation of barcode system for collection of waste.
He said that PCB has sent prosecution notices to the Government Medical College and Directorate of Health Services Kashmir.
As per one SPCB official, only two hospitals in the Valley have submitted the reports about their biomedical waste generation.
Given the grim situation, the PCB had decided to close down the facility at Lassipora where the major portion of the waste from government hospitals is collected.
"The bio medical waste can have dreadful consequences. Over the years, the waste can mix with soil, air, and water. With the result, it can become a major cause for the outbreak of an epidemic," the PCB official said.
The official said, "We don't have updated data because hospitals are unable to file annual reports. This is for the first time that details that were supposed to be submitted by June 2017 have not been submitted till now." |
