*GMC, CD among 4 hospitals have worst sanitary conditions
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 9: Making mockery of the Committee on Environment of State Legislature, the Health and Medical Education Department is treating its repeated recommendations regarding installation of Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility sanctioned under National Rural Health Mission as ‘trash’ instead of taking the same seriously. Moreover, the project for construction of individual Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) in the health institutions has been shelved just before take off for want of funds.
Several years back, the Government of India sanctioned Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility for Kashmir and Jammu under the Centrally sponsored scheme of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). However, no seriousness was shown for this vital facility by the Health and Medical Education Department for years together which invited sharp reaction from the Committee on Environment of the State Legislature.
After being reprimanded by the House Panel, the Health and Medical Education Department started process to identify the land for establishment of the facility in both the regions of the State. As far as Jammu is concerned, two sites were identified—one at Bajalta and another at Kanachak while as in respect of Kashmir, the land was identified at Lasjan, Rakhi-a-Arth, Sheikhpora and Zewan. However, no further progress could be made for want of clearance from the State Pollution Control Board.
When the matter was again taken up by the Committee on Environment for the 2015-16, the same stereotype reply was given and it was stated that the process to establish facility was under-way. However, the House Panel expressed its displeasure over the failure of the concerned agencies for not establishing the facility despite the recommendations given by the predecessor committee.
“The facility, which was to be established by utilizing the funds sanctioned under NRHM by the Central Government, would have definitely proved beneficial to upgrade the poor common bio-medical waste treatment and management in the State”, the House Panel has regretted in the report.
The Chairman of the Pollution Control Board has conveyed to the House Panel that the sites identified by the Health and Medical Education Department could not be cleared as they don’t fall within the prescribed criteria. In this way, the Health and Medical Education Department has treated the repeated recommendations of the House Panel as trash.
The Committee on Environment has also observed that G B Pant Hospital, L D Hospital Srinagar, Chest Disease Hospital Jammu and Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu were having worst sanitary conditions.
As far as mobile waste treatment facility is concerned, the Committee has been informed by the Chairman of Pollution Control Board that waste could be shifted up to 150 kilometers within the time period of 4 hours to the treatment side. Keeping this in mind, the Committee has suggested the Health and Medical Education Department to explore the possibility of establishing a facility at each district headquarter to cater to nearby areas in the respective districts.
There was also a proposal to establish individual STPs in the hospitals but the same was shelved due to constraints of funds well before the proposal takes any concrete shape. “The predecessor Environment Committee had constantly raised/discussed the issue but without any result due to slackness on the part of concerned authorities”, the latest House Panel said. Now, the Committee on Environment has issued directions for fixing the agencies responsible for non-installation of facility in the State.
The Committee has also observed that situation vis-à-vis management of bio-medical and other solid waste in the far flung hospitals of the State has gone from bad to worse as all the concerned authorities in the Health and Medical Education Department have yet not woken from the deep slumber.
Taking serious note of throwing of bio-medical and other solid waste into the nullahs, the Committee on Environment said that Health and Medical Education Department has proved a total failure for the disposal of bio-medical and other solid waste management despite repeated assurances to the House Panel during the past several years.
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