Hospital waste a health hazard
By Vishal Gulati
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 10 — The next time you buy a disposable syringe, look twice. A normal injection for fever can give you AIDS, jaundice or tetanus. That is because a large number of medical items meant to be used only once are being recycled for sale. These are washed, cleaned, repacked and sold at a much cheaper price.

The modus operandi is simple. The culprits are ragpickers and hospital employees. The places of operation are garbage dumps outside hospitals and nursing homes.

Everyday tons of medical waste, including cotton, needles, syringes, surgical glasses, blood bags and intravenous tubes are dumped in the vicinity or in the municipal bins by the hospitals. The PGI, General Hospital, dispensaries etc, all lack safe-management of hospital waste.

One occasionally sees ragpickers rummaging through waste to retrieve reusable material.

"Everything collected from the waste is saleable. There is more demand of disposable syringes, surgical gloves, soiled cotton and used bandages" says a ragpicker, busy collecting syringes and blades from a municipal bin in front of a private hospital in Sector 34.

A senior health official in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation disclosed that in the government-run hospitals, Class IV employees retrieve the used articles for sale to unscrupulous agents.

"A majority of the government hospitals do not bother to ensure proper incineration of the germ-infected articles. The PGI and Government Medical College, Sector 32, are the only institutions to have incinerators. More often than not, the incinerators are unable to maintain proper temperature or they remain out of order. Therefore, the risk of waste finding its way back is high".

A visit to garbage collector shacks in Burail, Industrial Area, and Sector 25 reveals that there is a great demand of syringes, gloves, soiled cotton, bandages and blood bags. These are found in abundance in the shops.But there is no clear evidence of where they go or how these are conditioned for reuse. No one talks.

A source, however, said there was a ready market for disposable syringes, as these were easiest to recycle. The ragpickers sell these at Rs 8 per kg to wholesalers who further sell it to agents at Rs 20 a kg to Rs 50 a kg.

Doctors say contaminated syringes and needles do get used on patients. These will spare only the lucky ones from being infected.

Data on people actually getting infected from reused medically disposable items is not available. The magnitude of the problem needs a scientific study.

The Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee in collaboration with the Central Pollution Control Board, has carried out a case study of environmental auditing of the PGI. It says that currently about 3,500 kg of bio-medical waste is generated everyday at PGI. Besides, 3700 kg waste per day is being discharged by other government-run hospitals, dispensaries, primary health centres, private nursing homes and dispensaries.

The waste may touch the 8000 kg mark a day by 2000 AD, says the report.

The feedback gathered from doctors in the city reveals that neither there is a standardised system of segregating hazardous waste from the non-hazardous waste nor are there are guidelines on waste disposal. Financial and infrastructural constraints, including non-availability of incinerators or land for the safe disposal, are other factors that contribute to the growing menace.

Farmers angry at MCC proposal
From A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, June 10 — The proposal of the Municipal Corporation to allow rehri-phari vendors of the city to do business near 'Apni Mandis', meant for farmers, especially of Chandigarh and its periphery, has started showing resentment among residents and farmers .

Residents feel that on one hand, they get farm-fresh good quality products and on the other hand, due to the absence of middlemen in 'Apni Mandis', middlemen's profit margin is shared by producers and consumers. 'Apni Mandis' provide direct contact between sellers and buyers. Fruits and vegetables are sold here at 20 to 25 per cent less than the prevailing rates in retail markets.

Mr Shailendra Sachan, a lecturer in Khalsa Collegiate School, alleges that the unauthorised presence of rehri and phari vendors in 'Apni Mandis' has encouraged traffic nuisance and encroachments, causing problems to consumers. He further alleges that these vendors do not have accurate weighing scales and weights. As a result, consumers are at the receiving end.

Resentment has also started simmering among farmers and growers of fruits and vegetables, who sell their products in 'Apni Mandis'. Mr Jagtar Singh Bhomian, President of the Punjab and Chandigarh 'Apni Mandis' Kisan Union, says that if vendors are allowed to sell their products in 'Apni Mandis', farmers will go on strike and will stop milk supply to Chandigarh. He says that farmers will also picket the Municipal Corporation office and if need be, judiciary will be approached.

Mr Raghuvir Singh, who works for upliftment of farmers, says that on every 'Apni Mandi' day, each farmer pays Rs 5 as entry fees to the Punjab Mandi Board (PMB) and is bound to follow the retail rates put forward by it. He says that under strict vigilance of the PMB officials, only licensed growers sell their products.

Contrary to this, there is no such provision allowing rehri-phari vendors for doing business near 'Apni Mandis' and they are also not bound to pay an entry fees. A supervisor of the Sector 45 'Apni Mandi', on the condition of anonymity, said that he had powers to check, fine and even recommend cancellation of any erring farmer's license. But in case of erring rehri-phari vendors, the power rests with the UT Administration, he adds.

The Senior Deputy Mayor of the MCC, Mr Kanhya Lal Sharma, has a different tale to tell. He says, "As the growers don't have all products to sell, therefore, to provide more products to consumers, rehri-phari vendors should also be allowed to sell their items near 'Apni Mandis'. "He adds,"We will force farmers and vendors to sell their products at the rates fixed by the PMB."

Hurt by the proposal of the MCC, the Punjab Mandi Board threatened to withdraw 'Apni Mandi' scheme if the corporation did not withdraw its recommendations immediately. Mr G.P.S. Randhawa, in charge of 'Apni Mandis' in Chandigarh, says, "There should be a government-level meeting before deciding the case and vendors should not be allowed to do business near 'Apni Mandis' at any cost." He adds, "The UT Administration says that it is impossible to remove these vendors. But, during the short tenure of Ms Kiran Bedi, vendors were not allowed to do business near 'Apni Mandis' and traffic management was also excellent."

During the visit of an 'Apni Mandi' site in Sector 45, a lot of discrepancies in the working of the PMB officials and farmers were seen. Till 12.30 pm, the rate board which displays the prices of various products, was missing. According to a provision of the board, before the business begins, it is mandatory for officials to put rate-board at the entrance point of an 'Apni Mandi'. Products have seen variations in retail price in the mandi. Due to the absence of toilets at the sites, customers and sellers have to defecate in open fields, much to the harassment of residents.

The Punjab Mandi Board, in its letter to the Mayor of the city, protested against the proposal of the MCC and reiterated that the concept of 'Apni Mandi' would not be allowed to be undermined.

Class XI admissions from June 15
From A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, June 10 — Admissions for Class XI in 28 government senior secondary schools of the city will begin from June 15 after prospectuses' sale begins for 2,700 seats in the science stream, 975 in the vocational stream and 4,000 in humanities.

Except Carmel Convent School and Bhavan Vidyalaya, most private schools began the sale of prospectus for admissions today. Both schools had completed admission process earlier.

The number of students present at various private schools was not much. Most of the students were eager to join new classes. Girls present at the sale counter strongly recommended the introduction of Classes XI and XII in colleges.

Shifa Garg, who had come for her admission, supported the need for the introduction of 10+1 system in colleges for girls, like it was for boys in DAV College, Sector10. She felt that the level of education in colleges was better than that existing in schools. Supporting her daughter, Mrs Shisha said that the charm of college life always attracted younger generation. She advocated the introduction of 10+1 system, at least in the science stream in colleges for girls.

On the other hand, Mrs Bhatia, Vice-Principal of DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 15, strongly criticised the idea of having both classes in colleges. She compared school life with prison. She opposed giving much freedom to students at this age. She added that schools had longer study hours than colleges, thus these groomed students better.

Vandita Sharma, a student of St Stephen's School said that school had a charm of its own. She felt that school-like fun and enjoyment was not not to be found in college. But, her mother, Mrs Shuchita, an educationist, felt the need for the introduction of Classes XI and XII at college level. She felt that college helped in preparing students for entrance tests of various professional courses.

Jitender Kaur, who had come all the way from Jind district of Haryana for her admission, favoured college life. She also felt that students learnt a lot from their seniors at college.

Rasika, considered that colleges must have Classes XI and XII for girls. She said that at a girls' college, boys would not create problems and they could have better education.