Waste from government hospital, its mortuary end up in river

Medical waste is yet another source of Bhavani river water contamination. Waste from Mettupalayam government hospital and its mortuary, which lacks infrastructure to treat the same, is discharged into drains connected to the river.
“We have seen blood in the drains several times,” said Senthil Kumar, owner of a private ambulance. The mortuary is a small building. Recently, it was equipped with cold storage facility, but only two bodies could be stored at a time.“Since the hospital doesn’t have facilities to treat waste, it is often let out in open drains,” Senthil said.
Medical officer of Mettupalayam government hospital Seralathan, said it did not have enough funds to set up treatment plants since it was taluk headquarters hospital. “We have requested the officials and also sent letters seeking a treatment plant,” he said.
The hospital is also running short of sanitary workers, with just two of them given the responsibility to clean five acres of hospital surroundings. “While nurses and doctors ensure that bio-medical waste is separated, sometimes, due to lack of workers, even this is discharged into drains,” said an activist.