Directorate of Health services has been accused of disposing of the bio-medical waste in the residential areas of Kadamba plateau location in Goa. The villagers blamed the department for disposing of the hazardous waste in an irresponsible manner in the village where people reside. Nearly 200 kg of bio-medical waste was found dumped on the plateau.
Garbage disposal issue has been haunting Goa for quite some time now. Despite many promises government till date did not manage to solve the garbage problems in Goa. The ton of garbage that is produced every day by the ever-growing population of Goa has become the major challenge in from the ruling government. The opposition also leaves no stone unturned to target the government on this issue. But the news that has come up recently is more serious with the department of health services disposing of the bio-medical waste in the residential area in highly irresponsible manner.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] According to the news published in the local daily Herald, Just about a month ago on January 20, 2016, around 200 kg of bio-medical waste was dumped by the health department employees on the Kadamba Plateau which was spotted by the villagers. The garbage dump consisted of expired and contaminated medicines that could lead into serious health issues to the people residing in the nearby vicinity. The most shocking part here is that this stupid act has been performed by the people related the health department. What kind of example they are planning to set into this society by doing such a negligent act.
According to the sources after this disgraceful act of health department, the Goa Pollution Control board has decided to bring the state health services and Goa medical college hospital and private hospitals under its scanner. Although the answer to the question as who dumped the garbage remained unanswered but looking at the records it has been ascertained that the medicine was supplied to the state health department by the Tamilnadu based manufacturers.
Based on the available information the directorate of the health services has been instructed by the Goa Pollution Control Board to clear the dump as soon as possible from the area where they have dumped it and dispose of the same in incinerator of Goa Medical College and Hospitals. It is the clear case of a negligence and imprudence of the health department who are responsible for the well-being of the people and performing such act that could lead to exposing the entire village to the hazard.
It is no more the hidden fact now that the departments dispose of the medicines which have crossed the date of expiry instead of returning them back to the manufacturer who are responsible for replacing the same with the new stock as per the standards. The villagers of Chimbel have already filed the complaint of the dumping of medicines against the Health Services Department. According to the sources, the department had not alone dumped the medicine there but they were reportedly about to burn them in open causing the further hazard to the people.
The disposal of the medicine wastes needs to do in the proper manner. There are certain guidelines and procedures needed to be followed by the health department while doing the same. But unfortunately, in this case, the department has overruled all the guidelines and process thus putting the life of people to risk. If the health department starts following this kind of malpractices then how you will expect the hospitals, clinics, and medical stores to have the fear of the law. The department had set a very bad example in front of the people of Goa.
The concern senior authorities need to take the matter seriously and set up the enquiry on the department. They need to provide the satisfactory explanations for their deeds. If they have done it now that means they have been doing it for quite some time. Only the proper investigations in this matter will be able to expose the people behind this. The Goa State Pollution Control Board can direct that the medicines be cleared from the spot they were dumped at, but there are other government bodies who need to come into the picture and take action against those who gave the order to dump the medicines.
Source: Various Sources [/su_expand]
