The country’s premier health institute — the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) — does not have an operational sewage treatment plant (STP) while eight other hospitals, including Safdarjung Hospital and lady Hardinge, have had no such facility till date, an expert committee on Friday informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which termed the finding as “shocking”. The AIIMS, however, contended that their sewage treatment plant was functional and only on the date of inspection was it non-operational, to which the bench directed the institute to ensure that an alternative system is put in place.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar was apprised about the current waste management status of Delhi hospitals by the expert panel, which had conducted fresh inspections of 17 hospitals, including RMl, Kalawati Saran and Sucheta Kriplani, pursuant to the Tribunal’s August 23 order. The panel, which did not submit its report, informed the bench that while the hospitals were complying with biomedical waste rules, eight of them which included Safdarjung, lady Hardinge, Sucheta Kriplani, Kalawati Saran and Bara Hindu Rao, are yet to install STPs, but have started the process for it.
Expressing its displeasure, the bench remarked that Government hospitals, particularly AIIMS, instead of hiding their deficiencies should try and rectify them since they service a large section of society compared to private hospitals. The Tribunal made it clear that it is “concerned about improving the hospital’s standards and not to shut it down”. The bench gave the committee a week to submit a comprehensive report regarding certain issues, including sanitation standards of Government hospitals and listed the matter for further hearing on October 31.
Meanwhile, taking cognizance of an expert panel’s submission that a large number of small private clinics and nursing homes in Delhi are violating biomedical waste rules, the National Green Tribunal on Friday conducted surprise inspections of these establishments to see how they dispose their waste.