No need to panic, waste heaps at Gandhi Hospital not biomedical: Pollution board

They said they had conducted an inspection at the hospital on Thursday morning, and found that no biomedical waste was being disposed of in an unscientific manner.
(For representation only) PPE kits and other medical waste from Covid wards and testing centres disposed of at Ghazipur landfill. (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)
(For representation only) PPE kits and other medical waste from Covid wards and testing centres disposed of at Ghazipur landfill. (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)

HYDERABAD: While residents living around Gandhi Hospital allege that hazardous biomedical waste has been piling up on the hospital premises, officials from the Telangana State Pollution Board (TSPCB) maintain that there is no need for them to panic.

They said they had conducted an inspection at the hospital on Thursday morning, and found that no biomedical waste was being disposed of in an unscientific manner.

“After the inspection, it was found that the waste lying there was not biomedical, but only municipal. The biomedical waste is collected in yellow and red garbage bags as per the CPCB’s guidelines. On Thursday, like other days, we collected more than 900 kg of biomedical waste from the hospital,” said a senior official from the PCB.  

“From March 18 to August 13, the TSPCB has collected around 75,580 kg of biomedical waste from Gandhi Hospital alone. There is an app monitoring the daily collection and disposal of waste. Therefore, these claims of hazardous waste piling up are false,” he added.

Pointing fingers at the local municipal officials and poor segregation at the source, TSPCB officials said, “There might have been some biomedical waste mixed with municipal waste due to poor segregation at the source. Further, the collection of that waste is the municipality’s responsibility, and not the TSPCB’s.”  
In the last four months, the collection of biomedical waste has seen a multi-fold increase in the State. In May, around 800-1,000 tonnes of biomedical waste was collected every day in Telangana. As of now, the State generates around three tonnes of biomedical waste on a daily basis, of which 80 per cent is generated in Hyderabad alone.

“Apart from government hospitals, medical waste from 28 private hospitals are also being collected every day,” PCB officials said. Currently, there are five facilities responsible for the treatment of biomedical waste in the State. “These facilities have enough capacity for the treatment of biomedical waste collected from all the hospitals,” they added.

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