Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) of Jagatsinghpur Alekh Kumar Pradhan awarded six months’ imprisonment and a penalty of Rs50,000 to former Additional District Medical Officer (ADMO) Dr Nityananda Panda for breach of Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and disobeying Odisha State Pollution Control Board [OSPCB] direction on implementing hospital waste management disposal system.
The court also slapped a penalty of Rs50,000 on the authority of District Headquarters Hospital (DHH). Report said that in 2009 the Odisha High Court had directed the OSPCB to register a criminal case against the Jagatsinghpur DHH for improper waste disposal management. The OSPCB had given one year time to the Jagatsinghpur DHH to renovate and modify the waste management system which was in disarray. But the hospital authority turned a deaf ear to it and continued with their usual practice. An OSPCB inspection held on April 4, 2010 had found violation of the direction by the hospital.
Taking the matter seriously, the OSPCB had issued a show cause notice to the hospital authority. Dr Panda who was in charge of hospital waste management did not reply on the OSPCB query. As a result, the OSPCB filed a criminal case against Dr Panda in the Jagatsinghpur SDJM court in 2010. Dr Panda, now suffering from cancer, was, however, granted bail for moving to a higher court.