JOIN USBuckling under political pressure, the Joint Commissioner (Health) of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), reduced the penalty imposed on Fortis Hospital, for not disposing of medical waste, from Rs 10 lakh to Rs one lakh.
In his note dated April 8, 2015, the Joint Commissioner, Yathish Kumar, specifically maintained, “The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Fortis Hospital, Sri Venkatesh D brought political pressure on the undersigned unnecessarily. After going through the circumstances, I hereby impose Rs 1,00,000 (Rs one lakh only) as fine. Please publish this in newspaper.”
The BBMP Health Committee had carried out an inspection on March 23 and
prepared a report, which said the hospital has entered
into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with two waste management firms, Anu Autoclave and Incineration Services (AAIS) for biomedical waste and Nobel Exchange Environment for wet waste disposal.
Despite this, waste had not been segregated and the hospital had carelessly thrown medical waste everywhere, the report said. The area where the potable drinking water was placed was very dirty and stank badly. The food meant for patients was kept uncovered. Also, used razor blades were thrown carelessly on the floor on which blood stains were found. There was also no provision for e-waste disposal.
Pointing to these lacunae, health officers who accompanied the Committee members prepared the report and attached photographs to it, while recommending a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
The Joint Commissioner said, “(I) Have gone through the files and photos submitted by the inspecting teams of doctors. The hospital has failed miserably to maintain sanitation and have utter disregard to bio-medical wastes and continued to keep the things unsettled.”
Political pressure
Yet, it was political pressure which finally forced Kumar to reduce the penalty amount.
Releasing these documents, Opposition leader in the BBMP Council, Padmanabha Reddy of the BJP, sought to know why the officer buckled under political pressure and whether such matters should be mentioned in an administrative note.