Tamil Nadu to get three new biomedical waste processing units

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will soon get three new biomedical waste processing facilities. They are planned on the outskirts of Chennai, Krishnagiri and Cuddalore.
At present, eight centres handle biomedical waste generated by the 22,000 hospitals, laboratories, clinics and other health care facilities (HCFs) across Tamil Nadu. These units will be coming up in Virudhachalam in Cuddalore, Bargur in Krishnagiri and Gummidipoondi in Chengalpet.Of this, the Virudhachalam unit is expected to begin operations as soon as 95% work is complete.
Need for new facilities was felt after Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) closed three centres in Nilgiris, Virudhunagar and Coimbatore after they were found violating Bio Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016. After the centres were sealed, other operational units began feeling the burden. According to official data, on an average, around 60 tonnes of waste is processed at the eight existing facilities. Of this, only two are near Chennai. These serve around 3,500 HCFs, which generate about one-fourth of the total biomedical waste in Tamil Nadu.
Entrepreneurs say finding suitable adequate land to start a new biomedical waste facility is an issue they face. For such a facility at least one acre of land is required in a notified industrial zone with maximum hospitals within a 75-km radius. When some managed to spot such a piece of land, protests from locals delay the process further, said a TNPCB official. In view of these problems, the board wrote to Tamil Nadu Micro and Small Scale Entreprises (MSME), industries, housing and urban development (Ho-UD) departments asking them to prioritise such applications and assist them in finding necessary land without delay. In response, three applications were recently cleared by TNPCB and other related government agencies.
The Gummidipoondi unit will be a major relief for Chennai hospitals that are facing action from TNPCB for not signing or renewing contracts with waste management facilities. More than two dozen HCFs in Chennai were issued showcause notices for not having such a contract, which allows any of the two registered treatment facilities near Chennai to collect blood samples, surgical, lab waste, used syringes and cotton swabs through registered transporters for safe disposal.