As many 91 hospitals in Punjab were found violating the provisions of the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, with maximum 25 in Ludhiana.
As many 35 teams of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) conducted state-wide surprise inspections of 170 hospitals on the directions of its chairman Prof SS Marwaha to check the compliance status of the provisions of the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, made by the hospitals in Punjab.
Out of 170 hospitals, 78 hospitals were found complying the provisions of the bio-medical waste management rules, while 91 hospitals were found violating the same, and one was found closed during the visit.
Maximum 25 hospitals were found violating the provisions of the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules in Ludhiana district, followed by seven each in Amritsar and Bathinda districts, six each in Kapurthala and Mohali districts, five each in Mansa and Sangrur districts, three in Jalandhar district, four each in Ropar, Faridkot, Ferozepur, and Hoshiarpur districts, two each in Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Pathankot, and Sri Muktsar Sahib, while there is one hospital each in Tarn Taran, Moga and SBS Nagar districts.
Spokesperson said that the violations observed were that some of the Hospitals were not having valid authorization under Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules from the Board, not provided Effluent Treatment Plants, no proper record of bio-medical waste generation and disposal maintained, improper segregation, final storage room not proper, pre-treatment to liquid waste not provided, among others.
Action against the violating hospitals will be taken under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, said the spokesperson.
In Punjab, there are around 8,400 healthcare facilities identified by the Board which are disposing their bio-medical waste at the rate of 15-16 TPD (tonnes per day) to the five Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facilities authorized by the Board located at SAS Nagar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Sri Muktsar Sahib and Pathankot.
