Fine for bio-med waste makes doctors see red
GPs Say City Disposal System Is Poorly Coordinated ….Malathy Iyer I TNN
Mumbai: Even as the civic corporation is fining general practitioners a hefty Rs 20,000 each for indiscriminately dumping infectious waste generated in their clinics, doctors say the citys biomedical waste disposal system is poorly coordinated.
We have fined 20 doctors so far, R A Rajeev, additional municipal commissioner, told TOI on Tuesday. Neighbourhood clinics generate biomedical waste and, according to law, have to pay for its disposal, said Rajeev. They are complaining only because they are facing action.
But the 10,000-odd family doctors beg to differ. For one, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Boards notice in newspapers on January 31 gave them only 15 days to sign up or file an affidavit (if they see less than 1,000 patients a month) with the board for waste generation.
Secondly, only five vendors have been licensed by the authorities to transport and dispose of the biomedical waste. Will these five be able to provide us service when they also have to attend to thousands of nursing homes and hundreds of hospitals that produce huge amounts of biomedical waste? asked Dr Suhas Pingle, honorary secretary of the state Indian Medical Association (IMA).
There is also the question of economics. While the vendors offer a flat rate ranging between Rs 325 and Rs 500for handling a minimum 25 kg of biomedical waste per month, most family doctors produce less than a third of this amount. Most GPs are old in age and dont believe in the practice of giving injections for every ailment. So, few needles are generated in our clinics. The dressings and cotton weigh about 25 kg a month, said Dr Pingle, who is also a member of the General Physicians Associations action committee on biomedical waste.
Pingle said that when he called up the licensed vendors, only two evinced interest and one didnt bother to call back.
Biomedical waste has emerged as a big concern for the city, with the Bombay high court hearing a public interest litigation on the matter. Most big hospitals in the city have been hauled up for failing to adhere to the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, which was framed in 1998.
A fortnight back, the BMC started sending beat marshals across the city to zero in on individual doctors who were dumping their waste in community dustbins.
Doctors have not only complained of harassment but also corruption. A doctor practising near Ghatkopar station (west), who didnt want to be identified, spoke how the beat marshals had caught his sweeper dumping waste in the community bin and asked for Rs 4,000 to settle the matter. They come in a group of five or six and start shouting in our clinics, making our patients wonder what is going on, he said, adding that three other doctors in the same locality were also targeted.
On Tuesday, 14 doctors from Ghatkopar tied up with a service provider, Shulba Travels, for disposal of their biomedical waste for a year. We gave a cheque of Rs 4,200 (at Rs 325 per month plus other charges) to the representative, said Dr Anant Seth, a GP who has been practising for over 40 years. But the syringes, cottons and bandages I use in a month will barely weigh 8 kg.
Another doctor from Andheri wondered if any of the 20 penalised doctors included a quack. Why are only qualified doctors penalised, what about quacks conducting socalled piles operations in their congested clinics? he asked.