Bio-medical waste treatment facility soon in Bangalore

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, NOV. 24. A world-class biomedical waste treatment facility is scheduled to come up on the Kanakapura Road on the outskirts of Bangalore by year end.

Announcing the tie-up with Sanitec International Holdings of the U.S., the Director of Maridi Eco Industries, Mr. Ramesh Babu, told presspersons here on Thursday that the state-of-the-art project would be a pilot plant.

He said 65 hospitals with a capacity of 3,000 beds had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Maridi for disposal of bio-medical waste. The plant, which was estimated to cost Rs. 6.5 crores, could incinerate 10 tonnes of bio-medical waste while the capacity of the microwave would be five tonnes a day.

The project, he said, would provide the means for Bangalore City to comply with stringent international federal requirements on disposal of bio-medical waste. The medical waste would be collected from hospitals, clinics and nursing homes and transported to the plant in special vehicles.

The waste would then be processed through a microwave, he said and pointed out that there would be no problems of air or water pollution as there would not be any liquid discharge. The treated residue, would be completely disinfected and reduced by over 80 per cent in volume.

He said Maridi was holding talks with hospital authorities in 32 other cities apart from Bangalore.

The president of American Exporters, Mr. Nick Lalvani, said they had opted to set up a plant in Bangalore as the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) wanted the company to set up a plant in Karnataka. Another reason for choosing Bangalore was because the M.S. Ramaiah Medical College had already set up a bio-medical waste management system.

The president of the Association of Nursing Homes and Private Hospitals, Karnataka, Dr. P.R. Desai, said all hospitals, clinics and nursing homes would have to comply with stringent regulations regarding disposal of medical waste failing which they would have to pay a penalty. Violators could also face imprisonment.

He hoped that Government hospitals too would become part of the bio-medical waste project. Dr. Gopinath of the M.S. Ramaiah Medical College said 80 per cent of the bio-medical waste in Bangalore was generated by Government and Corporation hospitals.

The Association Secretary, Dr. Nanjappa, said the Act on Medical Waste Disposal had come into effect from January 1, 2000. There were 400 private hospitals in Bangalore apart from Government and Corporation hospitals, all of which would have to join the project by December end. If not, the hospitals would have to make their own arrangements for disposing of medical waste.

Under the project, Maridi would collect Rs. 3.50 per bed per day to dispose of the medical waste. On an average, one hospital bed generated 1.5 kg. to 2 kg. medical waste, and hospitals were facing problems in their disposal.

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