The Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) and private clinics located in posh areas like Panchlaish, Katalganj, OR Nizam Road, Chandgaon, Muradpur, Mehdibag, Zakir Hossain Road, Jamal Khan, Agrabad, Halishahar, Khulshi, Chawk Bazar and Sholoshahar are committing this malpractice.

Environmentalists blamed both the government and private medical centres for polluting the city environment by indiscriminate disposal of clinical wastes.

"Eighty percent of the doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians are careless or unaware of managing different kinds of medical wastes such as infectious, non-infectious, sharps and anatomical in separate bins. The hospital or clinic staffs are also not aware of the dire consequences of uncared and unmanaged waste disposal," said Prof Qamar Banu of Zoology Department at Chittagong University, referring to the findings of a recent study she conducted on this matter.

She said the CCC is indifferent to collecting clinical or hospital wastes from different clinics, including the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where heaps of wastes are seen very often.

"The most sorry sight is that most of the city clinics are in residential areas, making the situation worse. In Panchlaish and Katalganj residential areas, you would find a clinic at every nook and corner. Many kindergarten schools are also there and the kids are growing up in such an unhygienic environment because they are compelled to pass through the clinical wastes everyday. In our childhood such things were beyond imagination," Prof Qamar, also a member of Forum for Planned Chittagong (FPC), told The Daily Star.

She said due to lack of proper disposal management, even amputated organs are seen scattered in the garbage bins around the road, giving mental shock to the viewers.

All these are causing serious health hazards to the city dwellers, the environmentalists said.

They said, "The Department of Environment (DoE) hardly pays heed to this serious matter."

A clinic owner said they don't dispose of clinical wastes in a planned manner.

"There is no system developed yet. So, I've to dump the wastes on the dustbins, roadside drains or elsewhere. And then wait either for the CCC garbage-van or pray for rain to wash away the wastes," said Dr M Idris, director of Seba Hospital Ltd at Panchlaish residential area.

He said the DoE arranged a discussion last year with clinic owners on the issue but it impacted little so far.

CCC Chief Health Officer Dr Sarfaraj Khan Chowdhury, however, blamed non-cooperation of private clinic owners and CMCH for the 'unplanned' and 'unhygienic' disposal of wastes, much to the health hazards of city dwellers.

"We sent letters to the CMCH and all clinics about a year ago with a request to cooperate with the CCC for a planned and well-managed and hygienic waste management. But, they didn't respond yet to our call," he said.

The environmentalists emphasised the need for making hospital staffs at all levels aware of the dire consequences of unmanaged waste disposal to get rid of the situation.

Proper knowledge of different types of wastes, separation of solid and liquid infectious wastes including chemical, disinfectants, insecticide, pesticide and radioactive wastes, they said.

"Among other steps, incineration can be used with modernised version for some wastes, certain percentage of untreated materials may be disposed of by deep burial or sanitary filling and radioactive waste, unused medicines or vaccines should be returned to manufacturers and suppliers for proper disposal," they suggested.

Prof Qamar said laws must be enacted and implemented to force the hospitals and clinics to dispose of wastes according to certain safe standards.

"The DoE must ensure adherence to the Environmental Protection Law 1995 and Environment Conservation Act 1997, and permission to set up private clinics must be granted on filling standards for waste disposal," she suggested.