Chennai : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to act against a Chennai-based pharma company for unsafe disposal of biomedical waste.
Inter Med, which has a tablet manufacturing unit in Porur, had dumped hazardous waste at a private land abutting Alapakkam Main Road. The corporation which spotted this violation collected a fine of ₹5,000 from the firm in August 2021.
But there was no follow-up action by the TNPCB. So, NGT Southern Zone, which was recently hearing a case pertaining to biomedical waste in Chennai, called this ‘unfortunate’ and directed the board to collect compensation from the firm.
During the hearing, GCC claimed that it had installed 50 CCTV cameras at vulnerable locations (of waste dumping) and a team at Ripon Buildings was monitoring the situation round the clock.
The civic body further told the tribunal that violators were booked under various provisions under the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016 and in one such case (reported at Sri Lakshmi Nagar in Valasaravakkam) they had lodged a police complaint.
Besides this, the tribunal has told TNPCB to explore the possibility of tracing the total purchase and disposal of biomedical articles by healthcare units so that there is 100% transparency in the process. The NGT has given four months’ time to the board to submit a report regarding this.
At present, there are 4,240 healthcare facilities within the corporation limit, according to official data. All of them have obtained authorisation from the TNPCB to safely dispose of the biomed waste through agreements executed with two common biomedical waste treatment facilities.
