New Delhi: Yes you read it correct. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) told the National Green Tribunal that over 1.60 lakh healthcare facilities across the country have not obtained requisite permission under Bio-medical Waste Management (BMWM) Rules and are running without authorisation.
The apex pollution monitoring body told the green panel that as per the annual report submitted by State Pollution Control Boards, out of 2,70,416 health-care facilities, only 1,11,122 units have applied for authorisation and 1,10,356 healthcare facilities have obtained authorisation under BMWM Rules, 2016. Out of these 2,70,416 numbers of healthcare facilities, only 1,10,356 are authorised till the year 2019, it said.
“Apart from those who have applied and those who have obtained authorisation, there are about 50,000 healthcare facilities who have neither applied nor taken the authorisation,” CPCB said in its report. A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the States to expedite the process and complete it by December 31 and file a compliance report with the CPCB.
According to the report, 25 State and Union Territories have completed their inventories of all health-care facilities and 10 namely; Assam, Kerala, Mizoram, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Meghalaya and Uttarakhand have yet to do it.
