Despite AERB's notice, no check on radiation machines at Delhi's medical institutions

They say prevention is better than cure, but then who is listening?

It's been a month since Mayapuri industrial area in the Capital was left paralysed with the ugly incident of radioactive exposure but it seems no lessons have been learnt. More than 800 pathological labs are running in Delhi using radioactive material without complying with norms and they don't even have qualified radiologists to keep check.


What's the cure? None of the hospitals so far have responded to the
notice and are running machines having radioactive content and are not
complying with the norms. file pic

Not only this, the hospitals have paid no heed to the notice sent by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to submit details of radioactive machines used in their premises.

Deaf ears
"More than 800 laboratories and a few top hospitals in the Capital are using machines with radioactive material. They are yet to clarify their status," said a source in the health department.
Following the notice sent by the regulatory bodies, the Delhi government also asked hospitals to reply to its notice about prevailing conditions, but nothing happened.u00a0

"May 25 was the assigned date for the respective hospitals and pathological labs to reply. But not even a single hospital has responded," said a health department official, wishing anonymity.
Some of the hospitals on the list are Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Apollo Hospital, Max Healthcare, Fortis and St Stephen's Hospital. Besides these, some of the better known pathological labs are also under the scanner for using faulty machines with radioactive content and without any supervision of trained staff.

Larger issueu00a0u00a0
"The small-scale hospitals and labs that have not even disclosed the nature of radioactive machines in their premises pose a bigger threat than the other hospitals. This is simply a violation of the norms set by AERB. In fact there is no data available as to how many such centres are operating in the Capital," added the official.

All hospitals and pathological labs using machines with radioactive content are required to fill Form A and D provided by the AERB under which the regulatory body maintains data on machines.u00a0

"These machines should be kept under regular maintenance and should adhere to the stringent safety norms prescribed by the regulatory body. By filling the forms, the hospitals update AERB about the usage and the maintenance of machines," said the official.u00a0

The machines are used for X-ray, ultrasound and treating diseases like cancer. Besides regular maintenance,

Root cause

While investigating the radiation case in Mayapuri, the agencies deployed by the Centre stumbled upon the fact that most of the path labs are importing the radiation machines from European countries. The norms prescribed by these countries for using and disposing of the machine are hardly followed and that is the reason why the quality of such machines is suspect. While BARC and AERB have set stringent measures, they are rarely being updated about the ground level situation. How do you like the new new mid-day.com experience? Share your feedback and help us improve. Read Next Story Framed by cops, bound by red tape› Trending Stories Latest Photos Latest Videos Latest Web Stories ADVERTISEMENT Mid-Day Fast ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT