Madras HC seeks status report on sewage treatment facilities in southern TN government hospitals

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Tamil Nadu government and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to file a status report on Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) in government healthcare institutions in southern Tamil Nadu.

The direction came while hearing a PIL filed by Madurai-based advocate R Manibharathi, who relied on information obtained under the Right to Information Act to contend that several government hospitals and primary health centres were functioning without sewage treatment facilities.

A division bench comprising Justice CV Karthikeyan and Justice R Sakthivel took note of the submissions and directed the respondents to file a status report. The case has been posted for further hearing on October 8, 2026.

According to the RTI information cited before the court, 164 government healthcare institutions across 10 districts were listed as functioning without STPs. The districts include Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, Ramanathapuram, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Dindigul, Sivaganga, Pudukkottai and Dharmapuri. The institutions include government medical college hospitals, government hospitals, district headquarters hospitals, taluk hospitals, urban and upgraded primary health centres and primary health centres.

The petitioner specifically pointed to the Government Rajaji Medical College Hospital in Madurai, stating that although an STP had been installed, it was allegedly not functioning properly due to non-payment of electricity bills. He alleged that untreated sewage was consequently being discharged into the Vaigai river.

The Government Medical College Hospital in Thoothukudi, meanwhile, did not have an STP facility, the petitioner submitted. He also said several hospitals, including Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, had not responded to RTI applications.

The petitioner submitted that hospitals generate hazardous biomedical waste, including pathological and microbiological waste, blood-contaminated materials, operation theatre and laboratory waste, discarded medicines, human tissues, sharps, contaminated plastics and liquid biomedical waste. Improper handling, he said, could result in the spread of infectious diseases, groundwater contamination, ecological damage and risks to hospital staff, patients, sanitation workers and the public.

Relying on Rule 4 of the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, Manibharathi submitted that healthcare facilities have a statutory obligation to handle biomedical waste without adversely affecting human health or the environment. He also referred to provisions requiring segregation at source, barcoding, pre-treatment wherever necessary, scientific treatment of liquid biomedical waste and disposal through authorised Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facilities.

The petitioner further relied on the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, which prohibits the discharge of untreated sewage and trade effluents into streams, wells, sewers or land. He alleged that several government hospitals were violating these provisions.

He also cited the Supreme Court's judgment in Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti v Union of India, submitting that institutions discharging effluents were required to have functional STPs or ETPs.

The PIL sought directions to the state to install ETPs in government medical college hospitals, district headquarters hospitals, taluk hospitals and primary health centres in the southern districts and ensure their proper functioning. It also sought periodic inspections and publication of inspection and maintenance records.