Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Feb 18: Directorate of Health Services Kashmir on Saturday said that proper disposal of bio-medical waste is being ensured at ground level in Kashmir.
A spokesman of the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) Kashmir, said that there is a proper mechanism in place to ensure the disposal of bio-medical waste.
Several doctors and environmental experts while talking to KNO had stated that even though the premier health institutions of Kashmir have at least some system in place to collect, transport, segregate and treat the bio-medical waste but most of the health care institutions especially in rural areas have no system in place.
They said that there should be a proper check on the waste disposal mechanism as there are some loopholes which need to be checked at the earliest.
“The bio-medical waste has to go through various stages before it reaches the treatment plant and there is a need of keeping proper vigil on it,” they said.
However, spokesman of the DHSK said that there remains a contract of every hospital with the respective companies who take it and properly dispose of the same.
Doctors said that the large number of ill equipped, Public Health Care (PHC) institutions especially in rural areas have no proper mechanism to transport or dispose of the bio-medical waste.
They said that around 40,000 medical shops working in the UT have capacity to generate tonnes of bio-medical waste but persons running these shops have no training about BMW.
The detailed estimate of BMW generated by the hospitals, private clinics, medical shops, dispensaries, households and other medical institutions in the UT remains unavailable and it has had a bad impact on the environment.
Reacting to such reports, DHSK Dr Mir Mushtaq said that in registration, the proper disposal of bio-medical waste is mandatory and district and divisional teams are in place to monitor to check whether these guidelines are being followed or not.
Asked whether there are complaints from rural areas that bio-medical waste isn’t being treated properly, he said: “Wherever there is such an issue people must come forward and take up the issue with BMO or CMO or even DHSK/PCB and action as per law will be taken.”
He said that it is collective responsibility of every citizen and officials as wells that such issues must be brought into notice of concerned higher ups so that appropriate action under rules will be initiated.
Meanwhile, an official of Pollution Control Board J&K said that Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBMWTF) and captive facilities are in place to ensure proper management and treatment of the bio medical waste.
He said that incinerators, autoclaves, shredders, encapsulation pits and Effluent Treatment Plants are at the common biomedical waste plants to ensure the proper disposal of the bio-medical waste.
Notably, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that improper disposal of Bio-Medical Waste (BMW) can cause the diseases like Parasitic Infections, Lung Infections, Skin infections, HIV and Hepatitis B and C Viruses, Candida, Meningitis and Bacteremia. The people living nearby open BMW disposal sites can experience diarrhoea, headaches, chest pains, irritation of the skin, nose and eyes and typhoid.
As per the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in July 1998, it is the duty of every “occupier”, (in this case the heads of hospitals and other healthcare facilities) i.e. a person who has control over an institution or its premises, to take all steps to ensure that Bio-Medical Waste (BMW) generated is handled without any adverse effect on human health and the environment.
