Thaindian News

Ahmedabad, March 6 (IANS) In what could be termed an eye opener for other pollution control bodies across India, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has so far found four pharmaceutical units near here storing used syringes and needles in their warehouses.
Board officials raided the factories Thursday afternoon after being told by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) about the possibility of the four pharma units in Naroda, Narol and Isanpur storing used syringes and needles.

“To our surprise, we found hundreds of kilogrammes of used syringes and needles in their premises. But a case can be registered against the owners of these units only after ascertaining why such a huge quantity of needles and syringes in excess of one tonne were being stored in the units collectively,” a senior GPCB official told IANS.

The AMC provided the board with a list of 42 pharma units in and around Ahmedabad, which was culled from the address diaries of scrap dealers caught storing medical waste illegally.

Meanwhile, the GPCB has started a state-wide drive to ascertain the medical waste disposal compliance at 27 government hospitals and 8,500 primary health centres.

The pollution monitoring body has already directed all hospitals and health centres to be prepared to face action if the 18 guidelines for medical waste disposal are not complied with.

There are 7,631 beds in government hospitals in Gujarat, and GPCB has estimated each bed generates 250 gm of medical waste per day.