Flanked by the Deonar dumping ground on one side and refineries and chemical factories on the other, M-West is one of the most polluted wards in the city. Residents of Chembur and Mahul complain that the dense pollution in their areas has made life a constant ordeal. Locals blame the respiratory ailments that are rampant in MWest on the proximity to the dumping ground, a recently setup bio-medical waste incinerator and industrial units.

Local people say miscreants set fire to the waste material

The practice of dumping biomedical waste in the open continues unchecked in a few parts of Erode district though the health department has issued specific instructions on the safe disposal of such waste.

NEW DELHI: Patel Chest Institute of Delhi University has been warned by Delhi Pollution Control Committee against improper disposal of bio-medical waste, failing which it may be penalized up to Rs 1 lakh besides a maximum prison term of 5 years for its authorities. The institute was found dumping bio-medical waste in an open MCD dhalao, a report on which was published in TOI on December 4, 2012.

The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board has served showcause notices to more than 50 hospitals over the last few weeks for flushing out waste water, and liquid biomedical waste, without chemically treating them.

Highly toxic in nature, they can be a source of severe health hazard if not treated properly, according to experts.

KSPCB, Corporation fail to curb unscientific disposal of medical refuse, foetuses

Health ‘care’less: Buffaloes and dogs feed on bio-medical waste near the burial ground on P B Road in Davangere. Disposal of hazardous biomedical waste and human foetuses on vacant land, even as the Davangere City Corporation and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) look the other way, is posing a huge threat to the health of the people.

- Hospitals see pollution peril in JSPCB’s one-facility-one-incinerator recommendation

MINISTER OF State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan could land in a soup in the Lok Sabha for breach of privilege, for no fault of hers. On 29 August, in a written reply on the status of bio-medical waste in India, she submitted incorrect data — statistical evidence supplied by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for the past three years. Collating data from all the states, it claims that India treats more than 70 percent of the bio-medical waste it generates. If only it were true.

Sri Lanka's health minister Maithreepala Sirisena has appointed a high-powered committee to investigate the waste disposal from the National Cancer Institute after the National Atomic Energy Authority (NAEA) has found some radioactive substances in bathing wells and a paddy field in the areas surrounding the hospital in Maharagama.

Western Provincial Environment Minister Udaya Gammanpila yesterday has brought the issue to the attention of the authorities.

Special task force tea-ms of the Pollution Co-ntrol Board inspected 23 hospitals on Tuesday in Hyderabad. Ninety-six hospitals with 100 beds or more have been targeted for inspection this week. None of the hospitals inspected had valid au-thorisation to operate from the PCB. Neither did they have an efflue-nt treatment plant for the infectious waste nor did they have a se-wage treatment plant.

No projects being submitted by local bodies for burning biomedical waste from local hospitals are acceptable as incineration of hazardous toxic waste is highly harmful, warn Health Department officials here.

According to the officials, the local bodies should ensure that the projects for burning the biomedical waste complied with strict norms for their disposal. They had already raised objection to a proposal submitted by the Valapattanam panchayat for burning the biomedical and other waste from a health centre there.