Bio-medical waste plants must take environmental clearance:NGT

Environmental clearance is necessary for setting up bio-medical waste treatment plants due to the health hazards involved, the National Green Tribunal has directed.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar took on record a compliance affidavit regarding enviromental clearance to existing treatment plants in the city filed by Delhi Pollution Control Committee and asked other parties in the case to file their objections within two weeks.
"We leave open the question as to whether there should be multi-site for the bio-medical waste or there should be only one or two sites.
"In the meanwhile, we also make it clear that all the bio-medical waste plants must take environmental clearance in accordance with law," the bench said while posting the matter for next hearing on March 27.

Earlier, the Tribunal had observed that biomedical waste, if not dealt with properly, can have an adverse impact on public health.
"Scientific studies show that bio-medical waste is one of the more serious and hazardous pollutants and it can produce large number of infectious diseases which would be very harmful to the humanity at large. Their impact on public health can be very adverse and it is not only expected but is mandatory that such bio-medical waste is dealt with strictly," it had said.