The health department has launched a process to dispose of legacy garbage, including bio-medical waste, accumulated at the Alipurduar district hospital, which is in the heart of the town.

The West Bengal Medical Services Corporation Ltd, which is wholly owned by the state government, invited a tender for the waste removal. This is after two decades that efforts have been made to remove the trash.

The accumulation of the waste was attributed to a conflict between the Alipurduar municipality and the health department.

Sources said the civic body had cited its inability to handle medical waste and the lack of a proper dumping ground as key hurdles to the removal of the trash. Although a solid waste management project had been initiated by the municipality a few years ago, only the boundary wall had been completed, and no equipment had been installed.

Residents living near the hospital in ward 13, along with visitors, have been urging the administration to clear the waste for years.

People often cover their faces with clothes to shield themselves from the stench at the healthcare facility.

Pollution had severely affected the hospital environment, with garbage lying untouched for years.

Alipurduar MLA Suman Kanjilal raised the issue in the Assembly last year and wrote to chief secretary Manoj Pant, and the principal secretary of the health department, N.S. Nigam, apprising them of the ground realities.

Senior officials, including the principal secretary, visited the hospital on December 10, 2024, when chief minister Mamata Banerjee was touring the Alipurduar district.

The chief secretary was with Mamata when she
visited the hospital on
January 22, 2025. Pant expressed alarm at the alarming proximity of the child ward to the garbage heap.

According to the notification, the tender process will be finalised by May 8, and the entire waste removal is expected to be completed in two months thereafter.

Kanjilal, who is also the chairman of the hospital’s patient welfare committee, said: “Heaps of garbage, including medical waste, have been lying in front of the hospital morgue for 20 years. I brought the issue to the attention of top state officials, and finally, the health department has acted. The project is estimated to cost around ₹2.5 crore.”

A health department official said once the waste was cleared, a shed would be built for patients’ attendants.

Ratul Biswas, the secretary of NGO Manobik Mukh, which provides health services, said: “We are glad that the health department has finally taken this step.”