PCBA fails to provide info on wastes

Assam Tribune: Guwahati: Tuesday, December 09, 2014.

None of the authorities in the State is serious in matters of the pollution caused by biomedical wastes. This has come to the fore with the failure of the Department of Environment and Forests and the Pollution Control Board, Assam in providing the required information on biomedical wastes in reply to RTI applications.

It needs mention here that the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 in its clause 9 states that “The Government of every State/Union Territory shall constitute an advisory committee. The committee will include experts in the field of medical and health, animal husbandry and veterinary sciences, environmental management, municipal administration, and any other related department or organisation including non-governmental organisations. The State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committee shall be represented. As and when required, the committee shall advise the Government of the State/Union Territory and the prescribed authority about matters related to the implementation of these rules.”

RTI-cum-environment activist Rohit Choudhury filed an RTI application on May 8 this year with the Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) and following no response from it, he filed the first appeal on July 23, 2014 with it.

The PCBA, however, informed Choudhury on August 29 that the advisory committee on biomedical waste was constituted by the Environment and Forest Department of the State. But no records were available with the Board about the advisory committee meeting held till then.

And on the issue of the advisory body advising anything to the Government or any other agency, the PCBA said that no information was available with it.

Following this, Choudhury filed an RTI application with the Department of Environment and Forest on September 6 and it was followed by a first appeal filed on October 29, seeking information on the advisory committee constituted for the purpose, minutes of its meetings and dates of the meetings, etc. The department referred Choudhury’s petition to the PCBA on September 26.