RAHIM YAR KHAN: The newly-established largest private sector hospital (RYK Hospital) on Dari Sanghi canal bank does not allegedly have proper arrangement for disposal of medical waste. The hospital is injecting its sewage water underground when there are about 100 Covid-19 patients in the infirmary.

Chaudhry Naeem Shafiq, son of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MPA Chaudhry Shafiq Channab, told Dawn that the RYK Hospital was established at a cost of Rs150 million last year but its administration did not lay sewer line to connect to the main sewerage which is only 1,000 feet away, [allegedly] to save Rs2 million.

Shafiq alleged that the RYK Hospital administration had got approved its design in the last PML-N local government [municipal chairman] without following solid waste bylaws. He said after receiving complaints from a delegation of locals led by Iqbal Sanghi, he got its design file from municipal corporation five months back which showed that there was no septic tank in the hospital.

“At this time the hospital is injecting its sewerage water underground through a borehole.”

Rural area ‘urbanised’ without laying sewerage; medical waste being burnt and injected underground

He said he had off and on requested the deputy commissioner to resolve the issue while the chief municipal corporation officer has visited the site but to no avail.

According to a source in municipal corporation, the RYK Hospital had not followed standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding dumping of water because the area did not have sewer lines.

RYK Assistant Director Environment Protection Agency Punjab Aamir Arshad Rehmani also issued a letter No.11147/EPA/RYK on June 23, 2020, to the hospital. The letter said a survey conducted by an inspector found that the hospital has adverse environmental impact owing to four reasons.

It said the infectious and non-infectious waste are disposed off un-hygienically, the waste like IV bags, syringes, blood and urine bags disposed off as such are likely to be re-used, infectious and non-infectious waste is being burned in the open and the hospital is injecting sewage water into ground water which is violation of law. The assistant director directed the hospital to take measures within seven days.

According to Deputy Director Public Relations spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner Ali Shehzad had formed a two-member committee comprising EXEN Public Health Adnan Nasim and Chief Municipal Corporation Officer Azmat Qadeer Goraya which will submit report in a few days.

When contacted Chief Executive Officer RYK Hospital Dr Mazhar Jam told this correspondent that the hospital has two different agreements, first with Khubsurat Pakistan Waste Management Company for the disposal of waste and taking the non-infectious waste and second with Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) for use of incinerator for disposal of infectious waste (letter No 45353-58/SZH dated 24/10/2015 and revised on 24/10/2019).

Jam said the hospital drains out waste water through its septic tank twice or thrice a week or as required. However, he admitted that the hospital was injecting the sewage water in the subsoil water through a borehole and water passes through three stages in septic tank.

He said the adjoining area of the hospital had ‘urbanised’ but the municipal corporation seemed non-serious about laying sewerage. He said the MPA was building his villa near the hospital and he too did not lay sewer pipeline and similarly a neighboring private college has also been dumping its sewerage water underground for the last 15 years.

SZMCH spokesperson Rana Ilyas Ahmed said the incinerator [of SZMCH] had been non-functional for the last five months and infectious waste of hospital was being burned manually. He denied any agreement signed with private hospital for burning the infectious waste. He said SZMCH had also written a letter No.8610-11/SZH on Feb 20, 2020, to allow it to make an agreement with M/S ARAR Innovation (Pvt) Lahore for burning of waste due to poor condition of the incinerator but to no avail.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2020