PATNA: Six hundred and odd medicare facilities in the state, including private and government hospitals and nursing homes, have come under the Bihar State Pollution Control Board's (BSPCB) scanner for their alleged failure to dispose of biomedical waste in a scientific manner.
"A notice has been issued to these hospitals and nursing homes, asking them to start treating their biomedical waste as soon as possible," BSPCB's Dr Naveen Kumar told this reporter on Wednesday.
As per the Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules-2016, hospitals are required to dispose of their biomedical waste through Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs).
Most of the hospitals put on notice are private facilities with 100-odd of them located in Patna district alone. "Government hospitals are usually tied up with one or another CBWTF," said Dr Kumar.
Hospitals and nursing homes have to pay a fee for scientific treatment of the biomedical waste. "At least 8,900kg biomedical waste is produced every day in the state. The hospitals put on notice generally mix the biomedical waste with other solid waste material and throw them in dumping grounds," the pollution board official said, adding if not treated properly, the biomedical waste could spread infections.
The state has CBWTFs at Sri Krishna Medical College & Hospital-Muzaffarpur, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College & Hospital-Bhagalpur and Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS)-Patna.
While hospitals are not allowed to keep a separate incinerator on their premises and are tied up with a CBWTF for biomedical waste disposal, Patna Medical College & Hospital has been permitted to have an incinerator.
The CBWTF at the IGIMS, which caters to Patna, Nalanda, Buxar, Bhojpur, Rohtas and Kaimur, has 14 vehicles to collect biomedical waste from these six districts. "We cover all the government hospitals. Besides, we have around 1,100 private hospitals and nursing homes registered with us. We collect biomedical waste from their doorsteps on a daily basis," said CBWTF-IGIMS's officer-in-charge Shailendra Kumar Singh.
Singh said there was a move to shift the plant now that a new hospital of 470 beds is coming up at IGIMS. "We are in talks with the Patna Municipal Corporation to get a suitable solid waste management site, approximately 1.5 acres in size," Singh said.
