Residents Complain of Toxic Smell from Jamshedpur Hospital's Waste Management Practices

Jamshedpur: People living in the residential colony adjoining the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital’s new campus in Dimna (MGMMCH) complained of toxic smell coming from the facility.Residents of Hilly View colony have raised the issue since the hospital moved here from Sakchi in May-June.“The medical and municipal waste stored at the boundary wall of the hospital for segregation and disposal emits foul odour,” said Sanjiv Mukherjee, a resident.Navin Singh, another resident, said that it would get difficult to live in the colony if the hospital continues to store waste in the open.Over 5000 people live in the colony. The RVS Academy school and Gokulnagar are in the vicinity.Jamshedpur (West) MLA Saryu Roy, who had visited the colony on Sunday, met hospital superintendent R K Mandhan on Monday and urged him to shift the garbage elsewhere.R K Mandhan told TOI that a bio waste management agency takes care of medical waste and a private agency oversees municipal waste. “Both the agencies collect the waste, segregate and take it away for disposing. There’s no issue with bio-waste. However, stench could be from the municipal waste,” Mandhan said. “The official said that soon a new site will be identified for hospital waste,” he said.The hospital is situated in an ecosensitive zone (ESZ), besides, the National Medical Commission (NMC) provisions do not permit medical colleges to install incinerator, he said.“As per the new provisions of the NMC, the bio waste management agency will take care of the bio waste,” the superintendent added.