Manasi S
Bio-medical waste (BMW) although comprises a small segment of total municipal waste generated, needs special handling and treatment due to its highly toxic contents, besides being infectious. Cities face serious problems in managing waste in general and it is more important to address issues concerning specific streams of waste. If not managed properly, toxic wastes like biomedical waste, electronic waste can contaminate the municipal waste causing serious implications on public health and environment. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in 2011 indicated that 13,037 healthcare facilities in the country have been found to be in violation of BMW generation and disposal rules 1998. Lately, Bangalore city has been emerging as the centre for medical tourism with its professional experts, technological sophistication in health care services. Although the Central Pollution Control Board has come up with the ‘Bio-medical Waste-Handling and Management Rules-1998’ again amended in 2000 by the MoEF, problems concerning proper management remains. This paper aims at identifying issues related to BMW in ward 128 of Bangalore city, Southern India. Questionnaires and Checklists were developed and survey of all the prevailing 27 medical institutions was carried out in the ward. Besides, the role of formal recyclers and their challenges was also considered. Issues like lack of comprehensive data, dumping of medical waste with municipal garbage, poor awareness among the hospital staff were identified indicating the need for a comprehensive research study to be undertaken at a city level.
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