NGT panel slaps fine on biomedical waste plant spreading disease
LUCKNOW: The biomedical waste treatment plant of Synergy Waste Management Private Limited in Mohammadpur village of Barabanki was supposed to save residents from hazards of medical waste but it is dispensing cancer to residents of area where it is located, inviting penal action from the UP solid Waste Management Monitoring Committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) .
According to the findings of the UP solid Waste Management Monitoring Committee , around 20 villagers in the vicinity of the treatment plant have been diagnosed with cancer, allegedly due to release of fly ash in the air .
The gram pradhan and residents of Mohammadpur have told the committee that a number of residents have been affected with fatal diseases like cancer because of the plant.
The committee has recommended the closure of plant and slapped a fine of ₹ 2 crore for the damage caused in the vicinity. The amount is to be paid to the people who suffered due to the air and water pollution.
The committee has also slapped a fine of ₹ 50 lakh on UP Pollution Control Board for its failure to perform its statutory duty to supervise Synergy. It has also suggested that a part of this fine be recovered from the salary of the member secretary UPPCB.
Justice Rajendra Singh said, “Our team found several anomalies in functioning of the plant which was collecting biomedical waste from hundreds of nursing homes and hospitals. The bags which carried the biomedical waste were not coded as prescribed.
The plant was also not operating at the proper temperature.” The committee found more than 500 unsealed bags containing extremely foul smelling placenta. Around 500 kg of incineration ash was found stored inside gunny bags in an open shed. It should have been covered as per CPCB guidelines.
The effluent treatment plant (ETP) of 1 KLD facility was non functional and the screen chamber was mixed with used syringes, glass bottles and test tubes etc. The villagers said that they had been protesting since 2014 for relocating the plant as the fly ash was making their life miserable.