Raiganj, Dec. 2: The sadar hospital authorities here are worried about the piling up of clinical wastes, which are being indiscriminately strewn in front of the Emergency department, raising the scare of a health hazard.
Anxious authorities insisted that though there was a separate enclosure to dump the clinical wastes, it was not used for the past few months.
“We have asked the contractor, who is entrusted with cleaning responsibilities, to take necessary action as soon as possible,” said Sourendra Nath Guchait, superintendent, Raiganj Sadar Hospital.
Raiganj Municipality, chairman, Arup Ghosh has, however, blamed the “callous hospital authorities” for negligence.
The hospital, which was elevated to the status of a district general hospital since the formation of the North Dinajpur district in 1992, used an open space, located in front of the morgue, for dumping garbage.
Rubbish was thrown at this designated site, which is located adjacent to the Raiganj block divisional office for a while, till the BDO objected to this “practice”, fearing infection. The hospital authorities stopped dumping garbage shortly after the complaint.
Later, the civic body constructed an exclusive wasteland for the hospital authorities at the Bandar area, which is situated adjacent to the town’s burning ghat and on the banks of the Kulik river, at an estimated cost of Rs 7 lakh. Though the hospital staff had used this dumping ground in the initial stages, they have abandoned the practice in the past few months.
“We are throwing all kinds of clinical wastes, including the blood samples of those patients, who are suffering from infectious diseases. This has alarmed both the hospital staff and residents living in adjacent areas,” said Joy Gopal Kar, a hospital staff.
Superintendent Guchait admitted that the unhygienic dumping of garbage was a matter of “great concern”. “We should start using the municipality’s chosen site immediately,” he said. Besides, the Indian Population Project has donated a vehicle for speedy transportation of garbage to the dumping ground on the banks of the Kulik river.
