Southern States - Kerala   

PCB deadline for hospitals ends today

By Our Staff Reporter

PATHANAMTHITTA Dec. 30. Over 4,500 health-care institutions, including the Government hospitals, in the State are facing hard times as the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) is all set to initiate criminal proceedings against them invoking the provisions of the Bio-medical Waste Management and Handling Rules (BWHR) 1998, from January 1.

The deadline for complying the rules in exercise of the powers conferred by Sections 6, 8 and 25 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, notified by the Union Government expires tomorrow. According to the SPCB sources, not even 10 per cent of the healthcare institutions in the State had complied with the rules prescribing the standards for treatment and disposal of bio-medical waste generated there.

The Chief Environmental Engineer of the SPCB has already directed the Environmental Engineer in Kozhikode to initiate necessary proceedings against the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital for non-compliance of the BWHR, it is reliably learnt.

Flouting rules

Meanwhile, there are allegations that certain hospitals drain out liquid waste collected in tanks into a stream leading to River Pampa near the panchayat stadium at Kozhencherry during night.

What is ironical is that even the waste dumped by the Kozhencherry panchayat at its dumping site at the stadium itself contains bio-medical and animal waste.

The flow of liquid waste from the District Hospital at Kohencherry along the public road has also been a health hazard for the past two months.

According to the District Environmental Engineer with the SPCB, A. Sajeevan, of the 250-odd health-care institutions in Pathanamthitta disitrict, none had fully complied with the rules and those who had partly complied with it were below 10 per cent of the rules.

He said that only 10 per cent of the 4,500-odd healthcare institutions in the State had even partly complied with the rules and the PCB would initiate criminal proceedings against the guilty in the next three months.

The Environment Protection Act had also made provision for the public to move court if the authorities failed to implement the rules effectively. As per Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act, violating the BWHR was a criminal offence and the guilty can be punished for a term extended up to five years with a fine of Rs. 1 lakh. The PCB can order closure of an institution for non-compliance of the rules, says Mr. Sajeevan.

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