Friday, 07 April 2023 | PNS | NAINITAL
The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB), Health secretary and the director general of Health to submit an affidavit by May 9 regarding action taken to ensure proper disposal of medical waste. Hearing on a public interest litigation regarding dumping of medical waste from hospitals in Pithoragarh in the open, rivers, nullahs, ditches and municipal garbage containers, the division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Alok Kumar Verma also asked the UEPPCB, Health secretary and Health DG as to why the rules are not being followed.
Pithoragarh resident Rajesh Pandey had filed the PIL stating that there is no facility for disposal of medical waste in the Pithoragarh district. Due to this, the medical waste for government and private hospitals along with pathology laboratories is being dumped in the open, in rivers, nullahs, ditches and in municipal garbage containers. This improper and unscientific dumping of medical waste has increased the risk of disease. The petitioner has stated that stray animals are consuming the medical waste which is also proving detrimental to their health. He has further contended that there are about 20 pathology labs in the district but none of them are registered with UEPPCB. The Pithoragarh chief medical officer has also acknowledged that there are no resources to dispose of medical waste in the district. The petitioner has appealed to the court that since Pithoragarh is a border district, the State government should be ordered to build a common medical waste disposal centre in the district.
