No Govt or Private agency to monitor disposal of radioactive waste

Rules to govern medical waste largely ignore radioactive matter; agencies pass the buck

Before the radiation leak at a Mayapuri junk market stirred the authorities into action, the dangers posed by radioactive material seems to have been mostly ignored. While several hospitals use machines that include radioactive material — the substance found at Mayapuri is also suspected to have come from medical equipment — it finds no mention in the list of things state authorities on the ground level need to keep a tab on.

The Bio Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, list out a number of hospital-generated waste, but the exhaustive rules do not include radioactive waste. While the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has a mandate for monitoring hazardous substances, it does not include radioactive waste or material either.