Status of Biomedical waste Management in Madhya Pradesh

Author(s): Dr. Ajay Kumar Thakur

Abstract:

Proper and scientific management of bio-medical waste (BMW) is essential for healthy life. It includes critical dimension of public health administration systems that is rapidly expanding. Present study assesses the status of spatial-temporal characteristics of bio-medical waste management in Madhya Pradesh. For this study the secondary data has been used reported by Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board over the period 2010–2024. The study provides a comprehensive assessment of the state’s bio-medical waste management framework particularly healthcare infrastructure development, waste generation dynamics, treatment capacity, regulatory performance, and district-level variation. The findings of this study highlights that Madhya Pradesh has measured a substantial expansion in healthcare infrastructure between 2019 and 2024, with the total number of healthcare facilities increased nearly 60 percent, having significant increase in non-bedded institutions and hospital bed capacity. Further, in the same period, bio-medical waste generation increased by nearly 17.6 percent. This shows the expansion of healthcare services and improvements in reporting coverage. Although generation and disposal capacity of biomedical waste increased simultaneously due to strengthening of Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs), persistent treatment shortfalls remain visible, indicating lack of operational and logistic efficiencies. Furthermore, the increasing dominance of CBWTFs, alongside a marked decrease in captive treatment facilities, highlights a structural shift toward centralized waste management systems. Long-term trend assessment of the data for the period of 2010 to 2024 reveals continuous increase in bio-medical waste generation, punctuated by short-term fluctuations due to public health related issues. District-level analysis of data highlights significant spatial disparities in biomedical waste generation and management. This shows that large urban centres like Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, and Jabalpur are generating disproportionately large quantity of the total biomedical waste generated whereas several districts indicate irregular or decreasing reporting patterns. This study concludes that although, there has been commendable progress in treatment infrastructure and institutional coverage for biomedical waste management, the overall issues of spatial imbalance, compliance deficiencies, and increasing waste intensity remain unresolved. For addressing these issues, there is urgent need to strengthened regulatory enforcement mechanism, rationalize CBWTF service areas, and adopt region-specific biomedical waste management strategies to maintain environment sustainable and healthy.

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Pages: 37-44     |    8 View     |    1 Download