Nagaland among 17 states flagged for biomedical waste violations

NEW DELHI, AUG 9 (AGENCIES): The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to ensure strict compliance with biomedical waste disposal norms after a nationwide review found widespread violations, including in six North Easter states including Nagaland.
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland are among the 17 states and Union Territories where healthcare facilities continue to use deep burial for biomedical waste disposal, according to a CPCB compliance report placed before the tribunal.
In its August 5 order, an NGT bench headed by chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad took note of violations of the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016, and directed the CPCB to ensure corrective action.
The Central Pollution Control Board report said 9,178 healthcare facilities across the 17 states and UTs were using deep burial for biomedical waste. Of these, state pollution control authorities inspected 6,375 facilities, while only 5,715 were found fully compliant with all prescribed norms.
The violations flagged in the report raise concerns over how biomedical waste is being buried and whether prescribed safeguards are being followed to prevent environmental contamination.
The most common violation related to groundwater protection, with deficiencies found at 477 facilities. Other violations included lack of authorisation for burial sites at 341 facilities, improper location of pits to prevent contamination at 316 facilities, inadequate record maintenance at 253 facilities, failure to prevent animal access at 229 facilities and improper covering of waste with soil at 216 facilities.
The inspections were carried out by State Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees.
The Central Pollution Control Board informed the National Green Tribunal that communications had been issued to the concerned pollution control authorities, directing them to take corrective action.
The pollution watchdog told the tribunal that if compliance is not achieved within eight weeks, directions under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, would be issued against defaulting states and healthcare facilities.
The National Green Tribunal has directed the CPCB to file a fresh compliance report at least one week before the next hearing on October 28.
The states and Union Territories covered in the CPCB report are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.