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Medical waste adds to trash woes in Karnataka

Friday, 28 April 2017 00:00 administrator
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The New Indian Express        29.04.2017 

Medical waste adds to trash woes in Karnataka

Biomedical waste.

BENGALURU: Meridian Medical Centre in Frazer Town was recently charged with dumping biomedical waste in Avalahalli Lake at JP Nagar 6th Phase. Injection bottles, blood and urine samples and blood-stained gloves were found in the waste. Bills from the centre found in the waste did the centre in and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike fined it Rs 1 lakh.

Hospitals in the state generate close to 54 tonnes
of biomedical waste per day | JITHENDRA M

Meridian denied the charges saying it gives its waste to a centre in HRBR Layout.

Whoever is at fault, the case is, in fact, a pointer to the larger issue.

It is not unusual to find hazardous medical waste mixed with common solid waste in the city. One of the reasons for it could be the inadequate number of medical waste treatment plants in the city.

There are 1,484 healthcare facilities in Bengaluru, according to the Fire Department. But there are only three biomedical waste treatment plants in the city - Medicare Environmental Management Pvt Ltd, Maridi Eco Industries and Anu Autoclave. The plants can hardly cope with the quantum of waste.


The situation in the rest of the state is no better.

Karnataka generates 54 tonnes of biomedical waste per day from 26,724 healthcare establishments with a total of 1.71 lakh beds. But there are only 25 biomedical waste treatment plants in the state. The silver lining is that five more are in the pipeline. The treatment plants charge hospitals on per-bed basis.

According to Biomedical Waste Management Rules 2016, all clinical establishments like hospitals, nursing homes, blood banks, clinics, veterinary centres, pathological laboratories, research and educational institutions, first aid rooms of schools and forensic and research laboratories are required to abide by the rules.

Karnataka generates 54 tonnes of biomedical waste per day from 26,724 healthcare establishments with a total of 1.71 lakh beds. But there are only 25 biomedical waste treatment plants in the state. The silver lining is that five more are in the pipeline. The treatment plants charge hospitals on per-bed basis.

According to Biomedical Waste Management Rules 2016, all clinical establishments like hospitals, nursing homes, blood banks, clinics, veterinary centres, pathological laboratories, research and educational institutions, first aid rooms of schools and forensic and research laboratories are required to abide by the rules.

Last Updated on Saturday, 29 April 2017 10:56
 

Inspections of of biomedical waste treatment plants rare, as KSPCB falls short-staffed

Friday, 28 April 2017 00:00 administrator
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The New Indian Express     28.04.2017  

Inspections of of biomedical waste treatment plants rare, as KSPCB falls short-staffed

BENGALURU: While the Central Pollution Control Board stipulates exhaustive checklists for performance evaluation of biomedical waste treatment plants, inspections are rare - once in a quarter.

The reason is that the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) is short-staffed.

“There are just 100 officers in our regional offices. How can we conduct inspections of 27,000 healthcare facilities? We have additional responsibilities of checking air, noise, water and soil pollution. We inspect the plants once in a quarter and it is not possible to check every clinic”, said a senior environmental officer in KSPCB.

However, there are strict norms for disposal of medical waste.

Wilfred John, head, operations, Vikram Hospital said, “We generate 180 kg of biomedical waste per day. When we hand over waste bags to Anu Autoclave lorries, the data is uploaded on KSPCB server. When Anu receives waste at its treatment plant in Hosakote, it will also inform KSPCB on the number of bags received. So, waste cannot be dumped anywhere during transportation”.


John said his hospital conducted plant inspection and found it satisfactory.

 

Property tax collection: 22 urban local bodies chiefs get notice

Sunday, 23 April 2017 00:00 administrator
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The New Indian Express        23.04.2017

Property tax collection: 22 urban local bodies chiefs get notice

HYDERABAD:  Taking a serious view of poor collection of property tax by several urban local bodies in the state during 2016-17, the director of municipal administration has slapped show-cause notices on 22 municipal commissioners for poor performance.

As property tax is the only source of major revenue for ULBs that helps them take up developmental works and provide better civic amenities to citizens. Director of municipal administration TK Sreedevi issued the notices, seeking explanation from the 22 commissioners for the poor collection of property tax which ranged between 40 and 80 per cent.

With the 2016-17 financial year having ended three weeks ago, the collection of property tax in all towns and cities was reviewed by the DMA and it was found that the 22 ULBs collected less than 85 percent of the tax, which was termed as not satisfactory.

In spite of the mandatory job work and specific instructions, the commissioners failed to improve the collections, thereby denting the finances of the ULBs. Bhupalpally stood at the bottom in property tax collection with 40.13 per cent.

Wanarparthy collected 57.55 percent and Palvoncha 62 per cent of the tax.

The collection of property tax, along with non-taxes, is the core function of a municipality. Prompt collection of property tax enables ULBS to meet their day-to-day administrative requirements.


In this connection, levy and collection of property tax was reviewed at the government and Head of Department (HoD) levels. Circulars were issued for 100 percent collection of property tax. Regular review through video and teleconferences was also conducted to improve the collections

. However, the 22 ULBs failed to achieve the targets set by the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA), and municipal commissioners were called upon to explain within seven days why disciplinary action should not be initiated against them for the said lapses.

 
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