Dumping biomedical waste without scientific treatment will soon attract the Goondas Act of 1982 in Tamil Nadu. On February 16, P Senthil Kumar, the principal secretary in the Health and Family Welfare Department, in his status report to the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), said the Tamil Nadu government will expand the description of the Goondas Act to include those who illegally dump biomedical waste in public places.
This action came after Senthil Kumar reviewed districts and panchayats where such biomedical waste dumping is rampant. According to the reports, Senthil has said that the decision has been made based on the opinion given by the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu who was concerned by the serious health hazards due to dumping of biomedical waste.
The NGT had issued a directive on May 23, 2022, to take appropriate action against those who dump the waste illegally. Senthil reviewed all cases registered since March 2021 in districts of Coimbatore, Theni, Tirunelveli, Tirupur and Dindigul along with the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), and parts of Tamil Nadu which share a border with neighbouring Kerala.
To streamline the handling of the issue, Health and Family Welfare Department issued an order on February 9 to form a district-level biomedical waste management monitoring committee comprising the respective Superintendents of Police (SP), Commissioners of Municipal Corporations, Regional Transport Officers (RTO), joint directors of the departments of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries and Additional Director, Panchayats. This committee should meet once a month under the chair of respective district collectors and take follow-up action regarding the issue.