Residents suffer due to Omega hospital’s waste

Hyderabad: The residents of MLA Colony complained about the problems they are facing because of the bio-waste being generated by the Omega Hospital.

They alleged that the drain lines which were laid in the 1980s were not capable of handling the load dumped by these hospitals which also contains biomedical waste.

Bio Medical Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2019, says, “The occupier of all bedded healthcare units shall maintain and update on a day-to-day basis the biomedical waste management register.” This rule further says, “All bedded healthcare units shall display the monthly record of waste disposal management on their websites.”

One of the residents alleged that the Omega Hospitals had a nuclear medicine facility which ideally should have had delay tanks but they were inadequate.

These tanks are used to hold the nuclear-containing residue which is being used after the radioactivity level comes down.

V. Ridhima, a resident of MLA Colony, said, “Our life has become difficult because of the illegal practices of the hospital. We are exposed to severe health hazards on a day to day basis. The residents of the Colony have tried approaching the administration several times but all efforts have gone in vain.”

Medical experts say that the biomedical waste which includes infectious waste contain several infections which can lead to the outbreak of life-threatening diseases.

An RTI query revealed that the other two hospitals, Citi Neuro Hospitals and National Institute of Gastroenterology, situated in the area, were operating without a ‘No Objection Certificate’ by the fire department.

However, the Omega Hospital administration said that they were following the guidelines which were prescribed for bio-waste disposal by the government.