KATHMANDU, Aug 13: The environment division of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has imposed a fine of Rs 100,000 on Prabhu Bank for disposing of medical waste in metropolis' landfill site at Okharpauwa. KMC's security personnel deployed at the landfill site arrested banks employees and a truck filled with hazardous medical waste last week, officials said.
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"We have fined Prabhu Bank Rs 100,000 for disposing of medical waste in our landfill site," Rabinman Shakya, chief at the division, said. He informed that the bank had sent to the landfill site a truck full of medical waste from various hospital premises seized by the bank for defaulting on loans.
According to Shrestha, medical waste poses serious threat to public health and should not be mixed with household waste and should not be disposed of in the metropolis' landfill site. "Medical waste is hazardous so should be destroyed in an incineration facility," added Shrestha. He also informed that the division has warned all health facilities in the metropolis like hospitals, nursing homes, polyclinics and others not to mix medical waste with household waste. The KMC has also directed its employees not to collect hospital waste. Most of the hospitals operating in Kathmandu metropolis do not have their own incineration facility, so they have been surreptitiously mixing the medical waste with metropolis waste. Some private hospitals and clinics bribe garbage collectors and dispose of medical waste in municipal dumps.
Meanwhile, the division has also fined Rs 10,000 to a local of Kathmandu for dumping household waste in the Bagmati River. Officials claimed that they have increased inspection to discourage the public to discard waste in river and in public places.
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