According to the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 all health care institutions should collect and segregate waste in different coloured bags and keep them safe at a designated place on their premises for disposal by employees of an authorised processing plant.

The state pollution control board has authorised a private firm, which is based at Tangi, Khurda, to collect waste from various private and government health institutions twice a day, process them and dispose of it in a scientific manner.

When The Telegraph visited Capital Hospital, it found all kinds of bio-medical waste, including used syringes and medicine strips, lying scattered outside the containment room and also in front of the hospital's main entrance. The containment room is the place where biomedical waste is stored before being taken away to the processing plant.

"I have seen instructions about management of bio-medical waste painted on the walls at every corner of the hospital, but clearly the authorities are not walking the talk. Garbage is strewn outside the containment area and also in front of the hospital entrance. It is shocking to see such mismanagement at a premier hospital," said Mihir Tripathy, a visitor to the medical facility.

Capital Hospital superintendent Binod Mishra, however, said they were prompt in collecting and segregating biomedical waste. "We have been awarded twice by the pollution control board for our safe practice of handling bio-medical waste. I will personally look into the matter if the employees are not doing their job properly," said Mishra.

He added that a fresh tender had been floated for selection of an agency to manage bio-medical waste at Capital Hospital and its peripheral centres. The hospital has authority over 16 other government health care establishments, including the one at Unit-IV.

The situation at the Unit-IV hospital is no different. The Telegraph found heaps of bio-medical waste lying just behind the main building of the hospital. One can find used syringes and medicine strips strewn all over. This hospital doesn't even have a containment room.

On condition of anonymity, a hospital employee who stays on the Unit-IV Government Hospital premises, said they were not trained to handle bio-medical waste and so, dump the garbage behind the hospital building and burn them later.

A doctor at a city corporate hospital,Sobhan Rath, said that exposure to such untreated bio-medical wastes might lead to various kinds of infection and burning the garbage would lead to air pollution. "If someone comes in contact with a used syringe, they might get infected," said Rath.

Janardan Sahoo, who lives near the hospital at Unit-IV, said waste such as syringes and medicine strips could be found lying scattered on the hospital premises for days.

"I have often seen such waste lying uncleared for days at the hospital. This shows that collection and disposal of garbage do not happen regularly," said Sahoo.

Speaking to The Telegraph, a senior environmental scientist of Odisha State Pollution Control Board, who did not want to be named, said they had conducted several checks at the hospitals.

"The last time when we had visited the hospitals, we found that norms were being followed. However, we are unaware of the present status. If the hospitals are flouting norms, they will be penalised," said the official.