PCB to prosecute 10 hospitals in Telangana

Hyderabad: The Pollution Control Board (PCB) has cracked a whip on hospitals not following proper procedures in disposing off biomedical waste. It decided to prosecute over 10 hospitals in different parts of the State.

The list includes Pace Hospital (Begumpet), Vishwas Hospital (Champapet), Navodaya Institute of Medical Sciences (Mahbubnagar), Apollo Reach Hospital and Safe Life Hospital (Karimnagar),  Prasad Hospital (Khazipet), Warangal Institute of Medical Sciences (Warangal), Dr Vasavi Hospital (Hanmakonda), Arogyamaatha Hospital (Jangaon), Aditya Multispecialty Hospital (Nirmal) and Medi Life specialty Hospital (Bellampally).

Pollution Control Board member secretary P Satyanarayana Reddy chaired a taskforce meeting on this issue with senior officials and doctors from government and private hospitals from across the State.

Also present were doctors from NIMS (Punjagutta), Osmania, Gandhi, Niloufer, MNJ Cancer as well as area hospitals from Adilabad, Nizamabad, Sircilla, Mahbubnagar etc. Reddy expressed his displeasure at the way both government and private hospitals were handling disposal of biomedical waste. 

He directed all hospitals (with 50 beds or above) to obtain CFO (Consent for Operation) letter from PCB in next 15 days and take steps to have Sewage Treatment Plants in next two months time without fail.

He warned of taking stringent action including closure of hospitals apart from prosecution if managements fail to comply with rules.

The member secretary told department facilitators to impart training to hospital staff on safe methods to segregate and dispose biomedical waste. Different coloured bags including white, blue, yellow and red should be used by hospitals, he stressed.

Satyanarayana Reddy suggested NIMS, Osmania, Gandhi and other area hospitals in districts to pay special attention to proper disposal of biomedical waste. He wanted hospitals to appoint a special official to oversee this process. 

The senior IAS officer also wanted hospitals to note down waste accumulated every day and submit details to PCB once in a week. He told Osmania and Gandhi hospitals doctors to submit DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) for construction of Sewage Treatment Plants for which PCB can extend a helping hand.