Infected dump will be gone in two weeks: Sion hospital

Bio-medical waste lying on premises for a year

Anjali Doshi

AFTER DITHERING for months on disposing infected waste, Sion hospital
authorities said on Friday that 1,500 contaminated mattresses and heaps of
saline bottles will be removed from the residential quarters of the hospital
in less than two weeks.

"The municipal corporation will arrange for the waste to be picked up," said
hospital Dean Dr M.E. Yeolekar.

"It will then be incinerated at Taloja." The Taloja plant on the outskirts
of the city is a waste-treatment facility where the soiled mattresses will
be burnt once they have been shredded.

Asked why it had taken the hospital so long to arrange for the disposal of
the waste, Dr Yeolekar said: "Infected mat tresses and saline bottles are
low priority when it comes to waste disposal." This would explain why the
last time the heap of saline bottles was cleared was on June 29, four months
ago.

Despite several complaints from resident doctors and others residing in the
staff quarters, many of who have been afflicted by malaria and dengue,
little has been done about the mess in the compound, which also houses a
paraplegic foundation and occupational therapy centre.

"Letters keep getting sent from one department of the hospital to another,
but nothing gets done," said a Sion hospital doc tor, speaking on condition
of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Meanwhile, officials from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB)
visited the site on Friday .

"Once the site inspector submits a report to us on Monday, we will issue a
notice to the hospital to clear the waste immediately," said MPCB Member
Secretary Dr Dilip Boralkar.

The infected mattresses, some of which are in the laundry room of the
hospital, have been on the premises for over a year.
anjali.doshi@ hindustantimes.com

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