NEWS

Two years of prodding by the Bombay high court appears to be showing results. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board on Two years of prodding by the Bombay high court appears to be showing results. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board on Aug 27, 2009 reported that 65.5% of the hospitals across the state have complied with the norms for disposal of bio-medical waste. Hearing a public interest litigation on the issue of improper disposal of bio-medical waste, division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Ajay Khanwilkar asked the MPCB to file a detailed report within four weeks. MPCB's lawyer told the court that more than 29,000 healthcare establishments across Maharashtra had been identified and brought under its purview. So far, notices for improper disposal had been issued to 130 hospitals, while two hospitals had been ordered to be shut down for failing to implement the rules. A PIL filed by the Consumer Welfare Association says Mumbai's 1,354 private, 293 municipal and 12 government hospitals generated about 10 tonne of bio-medical refuse every day. The PIL claims that such hazardous waste was disposed of in violation of rules, which increased the possibility of spread of infections. Even top hospitals, including state-run JJ, KEM and the Bhagwati hospitals, were not following norms, a report had found last year.