Daily Times

LARKANA: As many as 2,273 kg toxic, semi-toxic and non-toxic hospital waste is being generated daily in Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Larkana. However, this amount does not include the waste that is generated by private medical centres operating in the city without any check and balance since long.

Out of this, 197 kg toxic material is generated in City Block, 81 kg semi-toxic material and 657 kg non-toxic. In Teaching Block, 215 kg toxic, 112 kg semi-toxic and 500 kg non-toxic is generated. In Shaikh Zayed Hospital for Women, 85 kg toxic, 33 kg semi-toxic and 105 kg non-toxic and in Paeds Hospital, 45 kg toxic, 18 kg semi-toxic and 105 kg non-toxic material hospital waste is produced daily. In all, 542 kg toxic material is being produced daily in these hospital’s four blocks, 244 kg semi-toxic material and 1,487 kg non-toxic material.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regional Director, Sukkur, had also issued a letter to the CMCH medical superintendent to appear before EPA director technical to clarify the position as the healthcare facility under your control is operating without a hospital waste management plan.

The 1,500-bed capacity CMCH has 39 wards, 23 operation theatres and four pathological laboratories; hence, lots of waste is produced daily. The CMCH authorities have sent a hospital waste plan and SNE to health department, Karachi, for approval, which too is pending approval since a month. The CMCH has a huge incinerator installed in 2000-2001, but due to low gas pressure, it remained idle for about 16 years.

After the visit of the judicial commission of inquiry on the directions of the Supreme Court, an order dated 16th January, 2017 was passed and sent to concerned departments for immediate compliance. Accordingly, the matter was taken up with the SSGC authorities and they were paid Rs 1,851,819 on January 24 through a pay order, but even after the lapse of one month SSGC Larkana has failed to lay down large diameter pipeline so that the incinerator could be made functional for proper disposal of entire CMCH waste along with that of private medical centres by burning.

The CMCH authorities have also written a letter to Highways executive engineer for issuing a NOC for road cutting, which too has not been issued resulting unexpected delay in implementing the judicial commission order. The residents of Larkana have demanded that the order of the judicial commission of inquiry should be implemented in letter and spirit as wilful delay on any pretext will cause them immense health related problems for which bureaucrats will be responsible.