HYDERABAD: The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) on Thursday issued a notice to a major private hospital asking its management to shut down its operation within 30 days for not observing the Hospital Waste Management Rules, 2014.

The notice was issued to the Wali Bhai Rajputana Hospital whose management has been told not to entertain new cases and ensure completing the current cycle of admission cases within the next 30 days.

Sepa Director General Naeem Ahmed Mughal along with his team visited the hospital to inspect arrangements for disposal of hospital waste. He said the action against the health facility was taken under Section 21(2)(A) of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act, 2014 after it was established that the hospital management had continuously been violating the waste management rules.

Speaking to Dawn, the DG said that several notices had been issued to the hospital management over the last one year advising it to come up with a waste management plan and a waste-water treatment system in line with the law, which it failed to do. He said the hospital’s waste was burnt in a cemented pit within its backyard which was a serious violation of the relevant rules.

The Sepa DG said that unhygienic conditions prevailed in all wards and toilets of the hospital and a foul smell filled it when the Sepa team visited the health facility for an inspection. Dumping of hazardous waste in the open and smoke billowing from the pit kept the environment polluted, he added.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2017