The City on an average generates 11.22 tonnes of bio-medical waste (BMW) every day. This, however, does not include blood, blood components and BMW generated from several clinics and blood banks.

Sources told Deccan Herald that 80 per cent of the clinics throw their BMW along with the municipal waste. There are around 3,000 clinics in the City.

What is also shocking is that some hospitals, in Vijayanagar, Peenya and Srirampuram also dump their BMW along with the municipal waste, a criminal offence under the Environment Protection Act, the punishment for which is five years imprisonment and a fine of Rs one lakh.

Under the Bio-Medical Waste Management and Handling Rules 1998, which fall under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, “clinics, dispensaries, pathological laboratories, blood banks providing treatment/services to less than 1,000 patients per month are exempted from applying for authorisation by the competent authorities, in this case, the State Pollution Control Board,” said Member Secretary MDN Simha, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).

Since such clinics are not bound by the Rules to get the authorisation from the prescribed authority, they can individually handle their waste or give it to common BMW management facilities.

Bangalore has two such facilities: Maradi Eco Industries Pvt Ltd, on Kanakpura Road and Semb Ramky Environment Management Pvt Ltd at Dobbaspet.

“The problem is, unlike in the management of industrial waste, where we issue shut down notices to the offenders, we cannot do so in the case of hospitals and nursing homes. It’s a serious lacuna in the Rule and we have sought an amendment to it from the Central government. We want to increase our coverage,” said Mr Simha.

The common treatment facilities claim that only 20 per cent of City’s clinics are registered with them.
“We handle only 20 per cent of the clinics in Bangalore. There are around 200 clinics on our roles. The rest manage their BMW on their own,” said Director, Maradi Industries, M A Srinath.

Mr Nagaraj, one of the directors of Sembramky said that they have around 150 clinics on their customer list.
Regarding management of blood, the blood banks “treat and dilute blood and pour them in the drains in their premises. We only collect bags and sharp waste comprising needles, blades, syringes etc from them,” said Mr Srinath.

He added that there was a lot of pressure on both the facilities to collect and dispose blood. “We don’t do it because we don’t have the blood treatment and disposal facility,” he said.

Another major problem that Ramky and Maradi face is the improper segregation of BMW. “There are 10 categories of BMW under the Rule. There are three different colour codes which are used to demarcate the waste. Often we find them mixed. Many a times, we find municipal waste mixed with BMW,” said Mr Srinath and Mr Nagaraj.

Under the Act, a hospital or nursing home can manage their own BMW provided they have the required facility including an incinerator. “It’s an expensive facility with a lot of responsibility.

Moreover, individual incineration units are not allowed in the City. We encourage them to hand it over to the common BMW management facilities,” said Mr Simha.

Criminal offence
Dumping of bio-medical waste along with municipal waste is a criminal offence under the Environment Protection Act, the punishment for which is five years imprisonment and a fine of Rs one lakh.

In the event of illegal dumping of BMW, the designated authority under whose jurisdiction it has been dumped, should immediately inform the State Pollution Control Board — the implementing authority of the EP Act.

“In this case, the aborted foetuses were dumped in the City. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) should have sent the notice to the Board but we have not received any such notice from them so far,” said Member Secretary, KSPCB MDN Simha.

Nimhans defaults
National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans), a premier government psychiatric institute, has reportedly not applied for registration for re-authorisation by the State Pollution Control Board this year, the deadline for which ended on June 30, 2007.

Besides Nimhans, KG General Hospital and Victoria Hospital have also not reportedly applied for re-authorisation. Out of 23 blood banks, registered with the KSPCB, only 16 have applied for re-authorisation this year.
“Though these hospitals have not applied, they are sending their BMW to the common treatment facilities regularly. The lapse could be because of administrative problems, change of medical superintendents etc,” said a KSPCB officer.

Foetus and body
Among other things, the common BMW management facilities receive 12-15 placenta every day for disposal. “We can only accept foetus, which is less than three months old, on a written request from the hospital or nursing home. A foetus, which is more than three months old is considered as a body and has to be buried or cremated,” said Mr Nagaraj of Semb Ramky, a common BMW treatment facility in the City.