The reason being that tonnes of biomedical waste are lying untreated in the city and it can trigger an epidemic any time in the region.

The Rajkot Municipal Corporation unearthed a recycling racket on Wednesday, seizing 10 tonnes of hazardous waste from godowns, but it was just the tip of an iceberg.

Consider this: Against a generation of over 2,000 kg of bio -medical waste, only 700 kg comes for disposal. RMC commissioner Dr Dinesh Bramhbhatt said, “It’s very disappointing to say that hardly 30 per cent of the biomedical waste in the city comes for disposal to the incinerator.”

What is happening to over 1,300 kg biomedical waste daily? No one knows quite for sure. “We need to find which hospitals release this waste and how it is later treated,” said Brahmbhatt.

Incidentally, more than half of the doctors in the city are yet to register themselves under the Bombay Nursing Home Registration Act which has made proper disposal of biomedical waste mandatory.

“Only 945 of over 2,000 doctors in the city have registered themselves under the Bombay Nursing Home Registration Act,” said RMC Health Officer M Bhanderi.

The officer said, “It is mandatory for the registered doctors to incinerate biomedical waste. This is the sole reason why doctors avoid registration.”

Waste godowns have reportedly become safe heavens for the culprits who segregate the waste here for recycling. However, neither the corporation nor the pollution control board has any clear idea as to how many of such godowns exist in the city.

The lack of stringent action has encouraged doctors to violate the waste disposal rule.

In the last four months, 43 doctors were found guilty of not disposing of the waste properly.

During this period, the RMC collected a fine to the tune of Rs 4.5 lakh from defaulters. But no case has been registered against any doctor or hospital in the matter despite the act being a serious offence under the Indian Penal Code as well as the Environmental (Protection) Act. Moreover, the matter also comes under the purview of the pollution control board.