Transfer of medical waste for treatment to Delhi raises eyebrows

Mohit Khanna 

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 19 

The biomedical waste seized from Nayagaon and Dhanas is being taken to Delhi  for recycling. The fact came to light after the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee issued a show-cause notice to the scrap dealer. 

Sources said  the  scrap dealer has alleged a huge racket in taking the biomedical waste to Delhi for treatment. The authorities are probing as to how the bio medical waste is reaching the national capital by evading so security checks.

“There are so many police check-points on the highway but the way its is reaching Delhi raises eyebrows,” said an official. It all started  on August 17 when a team of the Punjab Pollution Control Board  raided godowns of 15 scrap dealers in Toga village. However, the team could not find anything. 

SDO Piyush Jindal said, “We asked workers of the scrap dealers where we could find glucose bottles. We were told that a man named Upender deals in this. On conducting a raid, we were shocked to find a huge stock of biomedical waste belonging to premier government medical institutes in Chandigarh.”

Yesterday, we found more waste at Darya village. 

“The scrap dealer had told us that it had purchased the biomedical waste from a man nearly two months ago. The biomedical waste belongs to the GMCH-32.  However, the hospital authorities have denied it.” The PPCB team had carried out raids to find out whether biomedical waste from Punjab was being dumped in Dhanas. 

However, the seized biomedical waste belonged to the hospitals located in Chandigarh. 

“We had carried out a combined raid with the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee. Now, the Chandigarh team is looking into the matter,” said Jindal.

 The biomedical wastes contained synergies, used cotton and gloves. Sushil Dogra, a scientist who accompanied the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee team, said the seized biomedical wastes was sent for treatment.  Sources said the PGI authorities had also ordered a probe as how the biomedical waste sneaked out of the hospital.

Manju Wadwalkar, Public Relation Officer (PRO), PGI said the institute was equipped with incinerator and crushers. “If any biomedical waste of the hospital was recovered, it would have been illegally taken out. Culprit will be brought to the book,” said Manju Wadwalkar.