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