CAG raise concern over disposal of bio-medical waste in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: In absence of valid authorizations for disposal of bio medical wastes, over 50 state run health care establishments (HECs) in Chhattisgarh, including district hospitals and medical colleges, may be causing a serious threat to public health and environment, as this waste was being disposed in general garbage bins by some.
The Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) has made these observations in its latest report and has severely castigated the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CGECB) for its failure in monitoring these establishments and allowing them to operate even after non-compliance of various norms.The CAG report also states that while a private incinerator is in operation in Bhilai, 3 incinerators owned by the state government at Korba, Jagdalpur and Kanker were lying idle.
According to the report, the 51 HECs that do not have valid authorisation for disposal of bio medical waste include 11 district hospitals, two Medical Colleges, 27 Community health centres and 11 district Veterinary hospitals. The report states that per Bio Medical Waste (BMW) rule 8 (1), it is mandatory for every health establishment dealing with 1000 patients per month require to obtain authorisations Sent from my iPhone 6+ waste.
According to the report, district hospitals in Durg, Bilaspur, Kondagaon and Korba and two community health centres at Pali and Katghora had authorisation but the same had not been renewed since 2008-09 and 2010 respectively. Hence all these DHs and CHCs were operating without authorisation (October 2014).
Even, the 380-bed Late Balram Kashyap Memorial Medical College cum Maharani Hospital at Jagdalpur had been running without the authorisation, as is provisional authorisation had not been renewed till Oct 2014. The report states, that CGECB, being the nodal agency, should have ensured strict implementation of the BMW rules but had not done so.
The CAG pulled up CGECB for not issuing notices for violation of BMW rules to 51 HCEs, despite physically verifying the violations in 2010-11. Interestingly, during the said year, the board had issued violation notices to 20 HECs but none of the 51 surveyed by it was on this list.
In its response, the government stated that board had granted authorisation to 631 HCEs. However, CAG did not accept the reply as list of these units was not provided by the CGECB and none of the 51 government units test checked had a valid authorisation.
The report reveals that some HECs were found to be disposing off their bio medical waste in general garbage bins provided by the municipal corporation in the hospitals. This was being done in atleast three community health centres at Katghora, Akaltara, and Pallari. Mixing of BMW with municipal garbage has direct adverse effect on human health as well as on the environment.
The report states that three government owned incinerators at Korba, Jagdalpur and Kanker were lying idle. The report states that this showed CGECB did not initiate adequate measures to utilise the available infrastructure, rendering them useless and forcing the HECs to manage with only one private incinerator at Durg.