KARACHI: Majority of hospitals without incinerators
KARACHI, July 30: Except for two or three private sector hospitals in the city, most of the hospitals are without incinerators.
In the absence of this facility, hospitals, maternity homes and dispensaries, dump their wastes at different garbage collection points in different localities.
There are about 600 public and private sector hospitals, maternity homes and dispensaries in Karachi, and a majority of them lack a proper system for disposing of hazardous waste, like swab, used bandage, used syringes, plasters, ampules, drips, placenta and other human organs.
According to estimates, approximately 45 per cent hospital waste is disposed of properly while 65 per cent throw it at a waste collection points.
Moreover, sweepers of hospitals and health units have links with junk dealers who sell hospital waste to them directly.
Later these dealers sort out waste and select different usable items for recycling, like syringes, etc., which are again sold out in the market.
This cycle completes at medical stores where end-users fall prey to these elements when they buy the harmful products again.
It has been found that the recycled products have become a big source for spreading of infectious diseases, like Hepatitis B, C and HIV/ AIDS in the country.
Furthermore, many poisonous chemicals get mixed with hospital waste dumped in the open at garbage collection points. In the presence of sunlight, the chemicals start different reactions and emit poisonous fume and smoke, which not only enhances environmental pollution, but also turn whole heap of garbage into a lethal dump.
Due to lethargic attitude of the civic authorities towards the removal of waste from garbage collection points, especially during rains, the waste starts flowing into drains and sewerage lines, causing the collapse of drainage system besides making the sewage poisonous to a catastrophic level.
All the effluent is discharged into the sea creating marine pollution.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the then Karachi Metropolitan Corporation had installed an incinerator plant to dispose of hazardous waste of metropolis some seven years back.
After the devolution of the KMC, about two years ago, this incineration plant was given to the CDGK. However, the city government has handed it to a private party. The incineration at the city government’s plant is done at 600 to 1,800 degrees centigrade.
Besides the CDGK, two private sector multinational companies, including Glaxo-Smithkline and Global Environmental Laboratory, have also established incinerators, comparatively of low capacity incineration.
The plant of Glaxo-SmithKline is located at the West Wharf while the other one is situated at Korangi Industrial area. These two plants are provide facilities to hospitals, as well as industries.—PPI
