Row over dumping of waste near MCH

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tension prevailed at Medical College Hospital here on Friday after a quarrel erupted between the hospital authorities and a group of local politicians over the allegedly unscientific waste disposal resorted to by the former. The quarrel erupted after the members of the local unit of the CPI confronted the hospital staff, who were disposing of a load of waste materials from the hospital at an open space behind the Medical College building. The CPI workers, led by P K Raju, alleged that the load contained biomedical wastes, including wastes from mortuary, surgical sections and wards. They even confiscated the lorry which carried the waste materials and handed it over to the police. The quarrel even led to a scuffle, following which the local police had to intervene.   In a statement, the CPI Medical College unit alleged that the hazardous biomedical waste materials were being dumped on the ground behind the college, instead of taking them to Palakkad, where they would be treated, which was the responsibility of MAGE, an initiative of the Indian Medical Association for waste management.  Meanwhile, the police, the officials of IMAGE and Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital authorities have dismissed the allegations raised by CPI workers. While the police said that they have not registered a case because the spot where waste was dumped was not a public place, but a private one owned by the hospital, the IMAGE authorities maintained that they were not aware of the incident at all. Medical College Hospital Superintendent Dr Mohandas said that the waste that was being dumped was not at all hazardous. ‘’IMAGE has got nothing to do with it. The waste materials that were being dumped were just litter collected after cleaning the hospital premises. The work was being done by the staff of Prevention of Epidemic and Infectious Diseases Cell of the hospital,’’ he said. The doctor also said that it was a common practice that litter collected from the hospital premises were buried in the open space behind the college.