The Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (HPSPCB) will organise an introductory workshop to sensitise the stakeholder institutions regarding the new regulatory framework for management of bio-medical waste in the State.
The state level workshop will be inaugurated by Kuldeep Singh Pathania, chairman, HPSPCB and is scheduled to be held on Monday (October 24) at Hotel Holiday Home in Shimla. Senior functionaries from the Department of Health, Medical Education, Ayurveda, Animal Husbandry, members of Indian Medical Association, H.P. and Operators of common-biomedical waste facilities etc. will participate in the workshop, said an official spokesman.
In Himachal Pradesh, presently 764 hospitals/health care facilities are covered under the ambit of Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998. The state board has authorized two common bio-medical waste disposal facilities at Kullu and Solan and three captive incineration facilities in the state apart from one operating in Punjab (Panthankot) catering to Kangra, Una, Hamirpur and Chamba region of the state.
During the last three years, the health care facilities covered under ambit of Bio-medical Waste Rules, 1998 has increased from 718 to 764 in the state, so is the corresponding waste generation from 1.47 TPD to 2.05 TPD, said the spokesman.
He said that in these facilities, approximately 1101kg/day of bio-medical waste is being disposed-off through the process of incineration & 149 kg/day by deep burial methods and remaining 800 kg/day is recyclable waste (plastic/metal).
The new regulation recommends stringent monitoring to ensure compliance and will apply to all persons who generate, collect, receive, store, transport, treat, dispose, or handle bio-medical waste in any form including hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, dispensaries, veterinary institutions, animal houses, pathological laboratories, blood banks among other rules.
The spokesman added that institutions violating provisions of Bio-medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 are liable for punitive action under Section-15 and/or disconnection of electricity/water services or closure of the activity under Section-5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.