Thousands of x-ray machines at diagnostic centres and nursing homes across the country — except in Mizoram and Kerala, which have set up a Directorate of Radiation Safety (DRS) for regulation —are operating illegally.
This is despite the Supreme Court order issued 11 years ago, directing States to set up the DRS for issuing certificate of safe x-ray and radiation to radiological facilities from the Atomic Energy Regulation Board (AERB). Non-compliance with regulatory requirements may result in closure of x-ray installations, according to the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules, 2004, which seeks compulsory registration of all radiation-generating units.
The Government recently admitted in Parliament that thousands of such units have not applied for a certificate of safety. So far, the nuclear watchdog has signed an agreement with 10 States — Kerala, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Odisha.
However, except Mizoram and Kerala, none have taken the initiative for usage of medical equipment such as radiograph, fluoroscopy units, CT scanners, interventional radiology x-ray units, mammography units, dental x-ray units or bone scanners. laxity on the part of the Centre and States is, no doubt, a matter of concern, given the unabated mushrooming of diagnostic x-ray facilities.
The Comptroller & Audit General’s (CAG) report a year ago too had pulled up the country’s nuclear regulator for its failure to register 91 per cent of medical x-ray facilities, saying this significantly increased risk of health problems for workers and the public in the vicinity of these facilities. Intriguingly, though, the Government in Parliament in a reply to a query claimed that radiation hazard involved is generally very low. “No doubt the States are not serious in bringing the x-ray units under AERB ambit. But we are encouraging them. Talks are on with Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura,” according to the Government.
Apart from the CAG, a Parliamentary panel too took exception to the fact that AERB had inspected only 80 of the total 50,000 radiation generating units during 2011-12, which is less than 1 per cent of those in operation nationally. “The committee has found a very dismal picture, despite enforcement of radiation protection rules,” noted the panel report.