MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPANDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS
(SHRIMATI JAYANTHI NATARAJAN)
(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Statement referred to parts (a) to (e) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 244 regarding
“Bio-Medical Waste Disposal†raised by Shri Anandrao Adsul, MP and Shri Dharmendra Yadav, MP
for reply on 12.12.2011.
(a) to (c): As per the Bio-Medical Waste (BMW) (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998, every
occupier of an institution generating BMW has to ensure that such waste is handled without any
adverse effect to human health and environment. The Bio-Medical Waste is required to be segregated
according to the colour code for containers/bags prescribed in Schedule-II of the BMW Rules.
Further, it is the responsibility of the occupier to treat and dispose of bio-medical waste in
accordance with treatment and disposal options mentioned in Schedule-I of the Rules.
The State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) in the Union
Territories are the designated Prescribed Authorities for ensuring implementation of the
Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, notified under the Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986.The Government of India have delegated necessary powers vested in it under Section 5 of
the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to all the SPCBs and PCCs in UTs, to issue directions to
any industry or any other authority for violation of standards and Rules, inter-alia, relating
to Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998. The SPCBs/PCCs are required to
closely monitor the implementation of the Rules by the Health Care Establishments (HCEs) and
take necessary legal actions against the establishments which violate these Rules.
As per the annual report submitted by SPCBs/PCCs/Directorate General of Armed Forces Medical
Services (DGAFMS) for the year 2010, some of the Health Care Facilities (HCFs)/Common Bio-Medical
Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs) are reported to be violating the provisions of the Bio-Medical
Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998 notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The State-wise number of HCFs reported violating norms of BMW and the number of show-cause
notices/directions issued to defaulter HCFs in the country is enclosed at Annexure.
(d): An inter-ministerial Committee of Senior Officers at the Central level has
been constituted comprising representatives from the Ministry of Environment & Forests,
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Ministry of Urban Development and the Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB) to review the implementation of Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling)
Rules in the country.
(e): The following steps have been taken by the Government to improve compliance
of the BMW Rules:
(i) All the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and the Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) of Union Territories have been asked to ensure effective implementation of the BMW Rules
and to take stringent action against the health care facilities for violation of provisions,
under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
(ii) 5829 defaulting health care facilities have been issued show cause notices or directions
by the SPCBs and PCCs, for violations of the provisions of BMW Rules. CPCB has also issued
directions against 33 HCFs/CBMWTFs for violation of the provisions during the last three years.
(iii) The Ministry of Environment and Forests provides financial assistance on Public
Private Partnership (PPP) basis for setting up of treatment and disposal facilities in the
State/UT for environmentally sound disposal of bio-medical wastes.
(iv) Financial assistance is provided to SPCBs/PCCs and governmental/non-governmental
organizations for creating awareness and capacity building programmes on bio-medical waste
management.
(v) CPCB has prepared guidelines for ‘Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs)’ and ‘Design and Construction of Bio-Medical Waste Incinerators’ for ensuring their
compliance.
(vi) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been requested to advise the State Health
Secretaries to take necessary measures to improve compliance of the Bio-Medical Waste (Management
and Handling) Rules, 1998 by all the Health Care Establishments under their respective
jurisdictions. CPCB has also been requested to advise SPCBS/PCCs to create public awareness
through media campaign for better compliance.
(vii) All the States/UTs have been requested to constitute state level Committee of Senior
Officers in their States/UT as well as District Level Monitoring Committee to monitor the
compliance of the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998.
(viii) The Ministry has identified the gaps in existing provisions of the Bio-Medical waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998 and has notified the draft Bio-Medical Waste (Management
& Handling) Rules, 2011 for seeking public comments/suggestions before replacing the existing Rules.
