The Hindu : New Delhi News : “Space at Ghazipur for medical waste”

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Saturday, Jan 05, 2008
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New Delhi

“Space at Ghazipur for medical waste”

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

About 75-90 per cent of the waste produced by health care providers is non-hazardou

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Government’s Health Department has written to the Delhi Development Authority asking it for adequate space to put up its centralised biomedical waste management facility in Ghazipur here.

The facility is to provide treatment for the biomedical waste generated from private hospitals, nursing homes and health care institutions under the Delhi Government, where onsite treatment facility is not available.

The Capital has about 40,000 hospital beds in the public and private sectors and biomedical waste produced by these healthcare units if not handled properly might pose hazards to human health and environment in the form of fatal infection, genotoxicity and cytotoxicty and physical injuries.

The Delhi Government had acquired 1,000 square metres land from DDA for establishment of centralised biomedical waste treatment facilities at Okhla and Ghazipur in Delhi. The centralised facility at Okhla has already been completed and became operational since November 2006. The site is facing opposition from residents in the nearby area, and the department is looking into the matter.

“The Ghazipur site which was previously approved near the landfill site there was turned down by the Central Pollution Control Board stating that it was not advisable to have bio-medical disposal site so close to a landfill. We are now asking the DDA to give us an acre of land where the facility can be put up. There is an urgent need to find space and mange our hospital waste,” said K. S. Baghotia, state programme officer for biomedical waste management.

About 75-90 per cent of the waste produced by health care providers is non-hazardous comparable to domestic waste, whereas 10-25 per cent is hazardous waste on human health and environment.

“Hospitals are required to ensure proper segregation, treatment and disposal of biomedical waste and adhere to the prescribed limit of 48 hours for lifting of waste generated in hospitals which don’t have on site treatment facilities,” added Dr. Baghotia.

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