405 healthcare centres yet to apply for certificate to treat biomedical waste

Of the 583 hospitals, nursing homes and clinics running without an authorisation certificate from the pollution control board to treat biomedical waste, over 178

Of the 583 hospitals, nursing homes and clinics running without an authorisation certificate from the pollution control board to treat biomedical waste, over 178 such facilities have applied for the same in the last one week. The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), earlier this week, identified these healthcare facilities and had given them seven days to get the certificate.

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“As many as 405 healthcare facilities in the city are yet to apply for the authorisation certificate under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules (BMW) 2016,” said Kuldeep Singh, regional officer, HSPCB.

“Every health facility in the city has to sign a contract with a biotech company set up in Sector 37 for treatment of the biomedical waste generated. Thereafter, they will have to obtain an authorisation certificate from the HSPCB. It is mandatory and letters have been sent through the Indian Medical Association and the Indian Dental Association to ensure their members apply for it at the earliest,” said Singh.

According to Singh, doctors and owners have to visit Vikas Sadan, at the Mini Secretariat complex, to apply for the certificate. “On February 15, a camp was organised at the Vikas Sadan, where we had received maximum registration requests. We will be holding a similar camp on February 22 and 29 so that before the financial year closes, we can provide certificates to all health units,” said Singh.

Explaining the delay in the process of getting certificates, Dr Ajay Gupta, secretary, IMA Gurugram, said that many healthcare facilities had reservations over the high registration fees for the certificate.

“Initially, the registration fees to get the certificate was ₹8,000 to ₹10,000, depending upon the bed capacity of the facility. The state government has now cancelled the registration fees as facilities are already paying to get biomedical waste bar-coded,” said Gupta.

Under the BMW Rules, revised in 2018, it is mandatory for every health facility to get the barcoding done, to track the movement of toxic waste and identify the offenders, in case of mishandling.

According to Gupta, the barcoding process has already started in the city, with a private company providing the service, bags for waste disposal, data preservation, data transfer to HSPCB and scanning of waste by Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility.

“Depending upon the capacity, each facility has to pay an annual amount — ₹6,000, along with taxes, for a private clinic; ₹9,000 for a 7-bed hospital with a diagnostic lab and blood bank; ₹12,500 for an 8-15 bed healthcare facility and ₹17,500 for a 16-30 bed facility. Those having more capacity than 50 beds will have to manage the waste on their own premises,” said Gupta.