1,500 kg bio-medical waste at GMCH-32

In gross violation of rules,1,500 kg of bio medical waste (BMW) accumulated over the past four five days due to the non-availability of an incinerator,including used syringes,blood-stained cotton gauzes and bandages,packed in plastic disposable bags,is lying locked in a room in Block C of the UT administration’s flagship hospital,GMCH-32.

At the GMSH-16,the incinerator has been under performing due to a snag since a week and after initial three days of no work at all,is now incinerating barely 90 kilograms a day and thus the authorities have refused to accept the BMW from the GMCH-32.

Sources revealed that the incinerator at the GMSH was being used only for the destruction of waste generated from the hospital. According to sources,each day,workers carry waste from the hospital and simply dump it in the room on the ground floor of Block C. As per hospital records,on an average,about 200 kg of waste is generated every day at GMCH 32 and about 90-100 kilograms daily at GMSH which includes contaminated needles and cotton smeared with infected blood.

While the incinerator at the Government Medical College and Hospital,Sector 32 has been lying defunct for almost two years,thanks to the lopsided vision of those at the helm of the affairs. Owing to the proximity of the incinerator to the upcoming Block E of the hospital,it had to be dismantled. Following this,the authorities decided to shut it down and reached an understanding with the Government Multi Specialty Hospital,Sector 16 to incinerate the waste.

When contacted,Dr A K Janmeja,Medical Superintendent of the hospital said,“ We have spoken to the PGIMER and they have agreed to dispose off our biomedical waste as well till the time the incinerator at GMSH 16 doesn’t become fully functional. Also,deliberations are already on to relocate the incinerator within the hospital as a permanent solution to the problem”.

On the other hand,the Medical Superintendent of GMSH 16,Dr Rajiv Vadera,said,“ Repair work is already on in the incinerator from the last three days. Despite that,we are still using it to destruct about 90 kilograms of BMW generated everyday in our hospital. We conveyed about our inability the day when the incinerator developed a snag”.

Sources say that the GMCH authorities were counting on the common bio medical waste management plant which was to come up on a common land provided by the UT Administration. However,after recently,the project was scrapped,it is expected that it will take time by the UT Administration to decide on the location of the common plant.