The Division Bench comprising Justices CV Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel also directed the Madurai District Collector Nishant Krishna to inspect and file a report on the petitioners’ allegation that untreated or improperly treated biomedical waste had been dumped in open lands, vacant sites and along the Vaigai riverbank, including areas behind the Saravana Stores premises at Vandiyur in Madurai.

In the PIL filed by Dr B Sharmesh Khan and Dr Karthik Kannan, the petitioners alleged that despite the statutory framework under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, there were serious deficiencies in the collection, transportation, treatment and final disposal of biomedical waste generated by government and private hospitals, medical colleges, nursing homes, clinics, diagnostic centres, blood banks, veterinary hospitals and other healthcare establishments.

According to the petitioners, the guidelines issued by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board stipulate that a Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility should ordinarily cater to healthcare establishments located within a radial distance of 75 km.

Only in exceptional circumstances, where the prescribed number of hospital beds is not available within such a radius, can the coverage be extended to 150 km, subject to the condition that the entire biomedical waste generated is collected, transported, treated and finally disposed of within 48 hours in accordance with the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.

However, the petitioners claimed that they had received contradictory information from authorities regarding where biomedical waste generated in Madurai was being processed. One response allegedly stated that the waste was transported to a facility nearly 500 km away at Gummidipoondi, while another indicated that it was processed at a treatment facility at Edappadi in Salem district, with only the incineration ash being transported to Gummidipoondi for final disposal.