BIOMEDICAL WASTE DISPOSAL
Govt told to act against hospitals
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra
Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to conduct a survey of 366 hospitals in the
state and initiate action against those institutions which do not properly
dispose of biomedical waste.
A division bench of justices R M Lodha and S A Bobde has given the MPCB
two months to conduct the survey and submit a report to the court.
The court’s orders came during the hearing of a PIL on the improper
disposal of biomedical waste.
The government has informed the court that in the 366 hospitals in the
state outside Mumbai, it had adopted the method of burying waste at burial
grounds. The court remarked that the method was not in conformity with rules
and a common waste disposal facility had to be provided.
The MPCB had earlier reported to the HC that it had found that 21
hospitals in the city were violating norms linked to the disposal of
biomedical waste.
In Mumbai, the only incinerator is at Taloja. An MPCB proposal to set up
three waste management facilities in the city and suburbs has been pending
with the BMC.
TIME TO CLEAN UP: The HC has given the state two months to submit a report
on the matter.