According to MPCB guidelines, they are supposed to send it to Deonar dumping ground for treatment.
Several hospitals in the city are not heeding to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) norms of treatment and disposal of bio-medical waste.
Over 50% of the hospitals sell off their bio-medical waste such as worn out disposable syringes, saline bottles, suction pipes used for blood transfusion and glucose, scissors and urine bags to scrap dealers.
According to MPCB guidelines, all hospitals have to ensure that waste is treated at a common waste treatment facility, SMS Envoclean at Deonar dumping ground.
“Discrepancies have been recorded in the capacity of bio-medical waste generated and the amount of waste submitted by some of the hospitals,” said BP Patil, chief engineer, Solid Waste Management.
Medical clinics are supposed to register themselves with the treatment plant at Deonar to enable waste collection and transport. “Out of this, majority of waste goes unaccounted as small private clinics and general practitioners do not register themselves. The waste generated by them is either dumped in the common dustbins or is sold off and reused,” said another senior civic official.
Scrap dealer Rampal Yadav stated one can earn Rs15,000-20,000 per month with bio-medical waste trade. However, he complained, “The ward boys and the midwives of these hospitals don’t allow us to take it. They prefer to sell off on their own to earn extra money.”
Dharavi, Masjid Bunder, Bhat Bazar, Grant Road, and Bhiwandi are the prime locations for this clandestine trade. Urine bags, saline bottles, injection bottles, oxygen masks, injections are sold off Rs30/ kg. The rubber pipes are traded at Rs25/kg.
“The used cottons in the hospitals is also sold off and reused for padding in mattress and the gloves in many cases sold off to barbers,” Yadav further added.
Meanwhile, only a few clinics segregate the anatomical waste from the non-incinerable waste. The MPCB prescribes segregation of the two categories of waste in colour-coded bags. The anatomical waste which is treated in incinerators has to be packed in a yellow bag and the latter in red bags.
But what prevents hospitals from treating the waste? The hospitals with a 50-bed strength have to pay Rs3.40 daily for each bed while those with capacity of over 51 beds have to shell out Rs1.95/bed. For non-bedded healthcare establishments, it ranges from Rs250-Rs 500/month. Some of these hospitals are unwilling to pay the amount, said an official from MPCB.
A list of 174 hospitals that have flouted MPCB norms includes several prominent civic, state-run and private hospitals. HD Wadde, regional officer, MPCB, assured that action would be initiated against all those whose names figure in the list of defaulters.
“This is a white-collar crime. Indulging in it can put several lives at risk. Public awareness has to be generated to stop such a trade,” said Anup Nilawar, director SMS Envoclean.
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