The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has recently issued a directive regarding the Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1998, making it mandatory for big hospitals in cities and rural areas to be responsible for their medical waste disposal. Non-compliance of the norms may result in revocation of their licence.

The notification issued late last year asked all State Governments to set up a monitoring body for keeping an eye on waste disposal. Accordingly, the Maharashtra Government authorised the MPCB to monitor bio-medical waste disposal and penalise those who flout norms.

Regional Director of the MPCB, Ajay Deshpande told The Indian Express the rules have been notified in exercise of powers conferred by theEnvironmental (Protection) Act 1986 for management and handling of bio-medical waste.

Quoting the rules, Deshpande says every hospital/institute will be required to set up the requisite bio-medical waste treatment facilities like the incinerator, autoclave, microwave system for treatment of waste, or ensure waste treatment at a common facility. The hospitals will have to submit a yearly report to the MPCB.

The MPCB is in the process of identifying big hospitals (those with more than 50 beds/clinics where more than 1,000 patients are treated per month) in Nagpur division comprising Bhandara, Chandrapur, Wardha, Nagpur and Gadchiroli, and sending them the prescribed forms of waste disposal. The hospitals will be given three years to set up the incinerators, said Deshpande.

Reacting to the notification, Dr G M Taori, Director of the Central India Institute of Medical Sciences (CIIMS) said it would help in cleaning up the city. ``We are ready to comply. We would certainly like to follow all the regulationsin this regard, including setting up of incinerators,'' he said.

According to Dr Taori, the CIIMS had tried to set up its own incinerator four years back, but the MPCB did not give it clearance. NEERI, too, had strongly objected to the setting up of smaller incinerators all over the city for waste disposal.

Dr Sudhir Ketkar, administrator of the Ekvira Heart Institute, told The Indian Express it would not be mandatory for every big hospital in the city to set up an incinerator. The Ekvira Heart Institute, like many other hospitals in the city, have an arrangement with the Nagpur Municipal corporation for medical waste disposal. Hospitals pay the Nagpur Municipal Corporation for collecting and disposing off waste through its incinerator at Mokshadham. It would not be advisable to set up incinerators in residential areas, says Dr Ketkar.

Welcoming the notification, Dr N K Saxena of the Saxena hospital said it would have to be seen whether the NMC's existing waste disposal method would prevail ornot. He was of the view that segregation of medical waste was necessary for proper disposal. For example, objects like needles, syringes, blades, needed to be destroyed through a special method so that they could never be reused, while non-contaminated items like plastic can be segregated for recycling.

Dr M P Ballal, former chief of the Sadar Diagnostic Centre said the notification would ensure the proper destruction of hospital waste in the city. Dr A Dadhe, NMC Health Officer, too welcomed the notification.

Dr Pushpa Jagtap, Professor and Head of the Department of Microbiology, Indira Gandhi Medical College, said it would now be mandatory for hospitals to maintain cleanliness.