The incinerator unit at RIMS in Ranchi. (Hardeep Singh)

Ranchi, Jan. 29: Biomedical waste, like used syringes and cotton swabs, litter the premises of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) with its lone incinerator lying defunct since July last year.

According to a RIMS employee, the hospital administration is doing little to repair the incinerator and the building housing it has become the favourite haunt of gamblers.

Rooms for segregation and incineration have remained closed for months while the chimney now leans on the roof. A tractor, meant for ferrying biomedical waste, lies unattended outside with flattened tyres.

The hospital produces around 450kg of waste every day. With the incinerator out of order, the waste is dumped in a ditch near the unit and burned in the open.

“The stench is unbearable even after the waste is disposed of,” a local resident complained.

Arun Singh, the director of Annapurna Utility Services Private Limited, which is entrusted with the task of disposing of biomedical waste produced by RIMS, said: “Till the incinerator is repaired, we will have to continue taking the waste to the incinerator at Ranchi Institute of Neuro Psychiatry and Allied Sciences (RINPAS).” He, however, denied that the waste was often disposed of in the open.

Sudhir Kumar, an official of Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board, confirmed that the incinerator had developed a snag and he had given a directive to repair the same three months ago.

“When we had visited the incineration unit in September last year, we had issued repair orders. The RIMS management had also assured us that the same would be done without delay. I don’t know about the current status and am not in a position to comment,” Kumar said.

Denying allegations, acting director of RIMS A.K. Mahto said that the unit was under repair. “The incinerator will be functional soon. However, we have made alternative arrangements for disposal of waste till repair work is over.”