Hospital needs more on cleanliness front

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 19

While the Postgraduate Medical Institute Education and Research (PGIMER) won the Kayakalp Award and secured second slot among the government hospitals in the country for maintaining cleanliness, the very own backyard of the premier medical institute is reeking due to huge pile of biomedical waste.

Instead of taking concrete measures, the hospital authorities are busy passing the buck.

Patients and their attendants are bearing the brunt of the biomedical pollution.

Stink emanating from the garbage collection point located near the nephrology department is giving a nightmare to patients as well as their attendants.

A majority of the patients sitting in the nephrology department at Nehru Hospital complained of foul smell emanating from the nearby garbage stock pile.

“Renal failure patients are prone to infections easily. Toxic fumes emitting from the pile of biomedical waste could pose risk to kidney patients. Sadly, the hospital authorities are not doing anything to manage the biomedical waste,” said Suresh Kumar, attendant of a renal failure patient.

Nearly four months ago, the institute had floated tenders for biomedical waste processing, but no company is coming forward to process the recyclable biomedical waste lying in the dump inside the campus.

In the absence of any processing mechanism, the biomedical waste continues to pile up and causing a serious health hazard.

According to sources, the PGI generates nearly 1,025 kg of biomedical waste per day.

Sources in the PGI said the incinerator, which burns the biomedical waste, was allegedly lying non-functional.

The PGI has remained under scanner following reports of biomedical being sold at the junkyard in the nearby area.

Three contractual employees of the PGI were also fired from the job following their involvement in the selling of biomedical waste.

What hospital authorities say

As per biomedical waste management rule 2016, no occupier shall establish on sight treatment and disposal facility, if a service of common biomedical waste facility is available at distance of 75km.

In Chandigarh, there is only one facility available, which is not fully functional.

To dispose of biomedical waste in accordance with the new rules, a letter was written to the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee to give us permission and NOC for disposing of the biomedical waste in Punjab. Permission was granted by the CPCC. Similarly, a letter was written to the Punjab State Pollution Control Board to give us permission and NOC to dispose of biomedical waste facility near Mohali. No communication has been received from the board so far. Now, a similar letter has been written to the CPCC to grant permission and NOC for disposing of biomedical waste in common waste facility in Haryana Panchkula/ Ambala.