National Green Tribunal seeks fresh CPCB report on biomedical waste deep burial

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file a fresh compliance report on the implementation of biomedical waste deep burial rules after being informed that several States and Union Territories continue to violate the prescribed Biomedical Waste standards.

A Bench comprising Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member Dr. Afroz Ahmad passed the order while hearing a matter relating to the disposal of biomedical waste through deep burial. The Tribunal listed the matter for further hearing on October 28, 2026. Biomedical Waste

During the hearing, the Tribunal took note of a compliance report filed by the CPCB on August 4, 2026. The report stated that 17 out of 36 States and Union Territories are currently using the deep burial method for disposing of biomedical waste. It also pointed out that many healthcare facilities (HCFs) were not following the requirements laid down under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.

According to the report, a total of 9,178 healthcare facilities use deep burial for biomedical waste disposal. Out of these, 5,715 facilities were found to be fully compliant, while the remaining showed violations of one or more prescribed standards.

The CPCB report highlighted several common violations. These included failure to maintain the required groundwater level below burial pits, lack of proper authorisation for burial sites, non-maintenance of records, burial pits being located too close to habitation or water sources, inadequate supervision during burial, and failure to ensure that animals could not access the burial sites. (ANI)

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