Bengaluru: Approximately 70 tonnes of bio-medical waste is produced every year in the city and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has directed all hospitals to segregate waste and dispose it of at 25 biomedical disposal units set up in the state, of which two are in the city.
Member Secretary, KSPCB, Ranga Rao, said that during random checks, majority of hospitals were found to be not complying with its direction on segregating biomedical waste.
“Biomedical waste does impact the environment and healthcare units were not found to be disposing of the waste in a proper manner. Disposing units have been asked to install continuous monitoring equipment within 30 days and connect to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) server,” he said.
The medical waste is usually seen ending up at unauthorised dumping sites. KSPCB chairman Lakshman said that despite an agreement between healthcare centres and biomedical waste disposing units, only a few hospitals were found to be complying with board’s directions.
“All biomedical disposing units have been asked to use non-chlorinated plastic bags. The clearing vehicles collect waste from every ward which will then go to segregation units. Smaller nursing homes too have been advised to follow the order,” he said.
The KSPCB said that on an average, each hospital bed produces 600 gm to 2.5 kgs of waste. Most hospitals were found to be mixing medical and general waste.
