The hospital has been given 15 days to put its house in order. Sanjeev Tyagi, member-secretary of GPCB, said this is the first time that they have taken such action against a government hospital. In a letter to the hospital’s medical superintendent Dr.M.M.Prabhakar, the board has listed the flaws it found in the hospital’s bio-medical waste management. The officers who conducted the inspection reported that there was no record of the quantity of waste generated, the quantity incinerated and the operating parameters. The hospital did not furnish any data on the disposal of solid wastes. They found unburnt bio-medical waste in the incinerator ash, which indicated poor segregation of different types of waste and non-compliance of operating standards of the incinerator. Further, fugitive emission was observed at the shed of the incinerator due to leakage, and the ambient air quality was found poor. There was no air pollution control device and stack gas monitoring facility. Also, the incinerator had no proper temperature indicator. Board officers also found that workers involved in handling of bio-medical waste were not provided any safety appliances. The hospital failed to provide any compliance report on the conditions of provisional authorisation, and the annual reports in prescribed form. Hospital superintendent Dr M.M. Prabhakar evaded questions on the issue, saying, ‘‘I have just returned from Karnataka, I don’t know anything about this.’’ Board officials say that if the hospital failed to comply with its directions, they can order shutting down of the incinerator, and even initiate prosecution of hospital authorities.