OGH, Gandhi yearn for much-needed STPs

Decision to set up the plants still on paper

The project to set up sewage treatment plants (STPs) for efficient bio-medical waste management at Osmania General Hospital (OGH) and Gandhi Hospital, is yet to take off. The decision to set up STPs was taken in October 2012, but construction activity is yet to begin.

The A.P. Pollution Control Board (APPCB) had also made it mandatory for hospitals to set up STPs, which are required for safe handling of hospital wastes.

At present, both the projects are on paper, with the authorities maintaining that efforts are on to begin construction at the earliest. When the project was envisaged, officials had estimated that it would cost close to Rs.4 crore.

“There are multiple agencies involved, including GHMC, Water Board and APSMIDC, with whom we are coordinating for the project. At present, the project is in consultation stage, and we should be able to start it at the earliest,” says Dr. M. Chandrasekhar, Superintendent, Gandhi Hospital.

The decision to set up STPs was taken when APPCB officials, after their surprise inspections of the facilities at Gandhi Hospital last year, had highlighted the lack of safe bio-medical waste disposable practices. In fact, the officials had reported lapses in handling bio-medical waste and waste water.

They had also observed that there was no segregation between solid, liquid and chemical bio-medical wastes at Gandhi Hospital and OGH. Hospital waste water, needles and other hazardous wastes are simply getting diverted into the public drain, which is dangerous, the report said.

Experts point out that patients consume antibiotics, psychotropic substances and other drugs, which are not ingested fully. Such drugs are not biodegradableand hence STPs are needed.