NGT imposes penalty on city hospitals not managing their waste

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday imposed environmental compensation of Rs 50,000 on four city hospitals who have not been handling their waste appropriately.

The Tribunal imposed fine on Lady Hardinge Medical College and Indira Gandhi ESI, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan hospitals.

Earlier on Friday, NGT had imposed fine on three other hospitals for the same reasons -- not complying with the solid waste management rules.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson, Justice (retd) Swatanter Kumar has directed the hospitals to pay the compensation to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), which will pay 25 percent to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The bench also directed the hospitals to segregate collect different types of wastes -- bio-medical waste and other solid wastes, and dispose them according to the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.

On Friday, the Tribunal had imposed a penalty of Rs 2 lakh on Shalimar Bagh-based Fortis Hospital and and Dharamshila Hospital & Research Centre, and Rs 1.5 lakh on Max Super Speciality Hospital.

The joint inspection team, constituted by NGT, earlier while inspecting the hospitals found several discrepancies, including non-functioning sewer and effluent treatment plants, collection and storage of sludge not provided, needles not destroyed property and stored in open container, lab chemicals used being discharged directly without any pre-treatment, and two bin system for solid waste not being provided.

The teams also found that the Dharamshila Hospital generated 140 kg of bio-medical waste and 100 kilo-litre of waste water every day. The Max was found to generate 406 kg of bio-medical waste and 180 kilo-litre of waste water every day.

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