SHILLONG: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has fined the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) over Rs 8 lakh for not complying with the provisions of Bio-Medical Waste Management (BMWM) Rules.
In a recent letter addressed to the chief executive officer, CPCB chairman SP Singh Parihar said SMB was inspected by a team from the board to verify compliance to the BMWM Rules, 2016, and many shortcomings were noticed.
The Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility was found operational without valid authorisation under BMWM Rules, 2016.
Moreover, separate space for treated and untreated bio-medical waste storage was not provided.
The incinerator has not been operational since August 2018.
Hence, bio-medical wastes are being openly burnt and dumped. The inspection also revealed that the unit has not installed online management system with the incinerator. Besides, the incinerator was not upgraded to achieve the result as required under the BMWM Rules and there was no equipment like autoclave/shredder for treatment and disposal of red, blue and white categories of waste. The CPCB has asked the Shillong Municipal Board to deposit Rs 8,60,000 as environmental compensation for not complying with the provisions of BMWM Rules, 2016, as well as CPCB guidelines.
The Centre had notified the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, and amendments under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to improve the collection, segregation, processing, treatment and disposal of the bio-medical wastes in an environmentally sound management system thereby, reducing the biomedical waste generation and its impact on the environment.
The rule 5 of the BMWM Rules, 2016, stipulates duties of the operator of Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) and rule 14(1) of BMWM rules state that “every authorised person shall maintain records related to generation, collection, segregation, storage, transportation, treatment, disposal and or any form of handling of bio-medical waste in accordance with the rules and by guidelines issued”.
The NGT had empowered CPCB to take penal action for failure in setting up and maintaining treatment plants.
