Thiruvananthapuram: Tension prevailed for a while on the medical college campus here on Sunday morning after AIYF activists claimed to have prevented attempts by some to spirit away used syringes and blood bags from the hospital campus.

Several bag loads of used syringes, blood bags and drip sets were being loaded into a mini truck near the open playground of medical college, when some local people and AIYF activists intervened to prevent it from being taken out.

Those who were loading the bags escaped when the crowd swelled, AIYF activists said.

They alleged that an organised lobby was functioning within the campus to collect plastic waste from the hospital, for recycling in the neighbouring States.

District Collector N. Ayyappan, who reached the spot, assured the local people that the matter would be taken up with the medical college authorities.

Later, replying to queries at a press conference, he said that the Circle Inspector (Medical College) would probe into the allegations that the disposable syringe and other materials were being taken out to other States for recycling.

"The Superintendents of Medical College Hospital and SAT Hospital have clarified that the plastic waste materials were not from their hospitals as they have their own waste management system," he added.

Waste management

MCH and SAT Hospital authorities said that for the past one year, they have had a systematic arrangement in place for handling hospital waste on a daily basis, after segregation.

There is no garbage collection on Sundays and the plastic waste generated is kept locked in the chemical store for disposal the next day.

They also pointed out that going by the type of blood bags that were found in the gunnysacks, these were probably taken from the garbage sorting area behind the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST).

The SCTIMST authorities were unavailable for comment.

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