With the growth in the health sector and increase in the number of Healthcare units in the State, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board has taken the following decision under Ease of Doing Business (“EoDB”) to ensure that small Health Care Units (“HCUs”) get approvals/authorisations/consents easily and quickly:
- Applications for obtaining consent under Air (Prevention and Control Of Pollution) Act, 1981 (“Air Act”), Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (“Water Act”) and authorisation under Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 (“Rules”) of all HCUs (non-bedded or having less than 30 beds) along with necessary documents must be received by the Regional Authority and consent and authorization with necessary conditions may be granted to HCUs without on-site inspection on the basis of merits and demerits;
- In the above-mentioned instances, the application for grant of consent and authorization shall be decided by the competent authority within a maximum of 15 days subject to the provisions of the rules;
- The Regional Officer however is required to conduct a thorough inspection of the respective HCU to verify compliance within 90 days of giving consent and authorization;
- A person appointed by a HCU having less than 30 beds should exercise due diligence to comply with the conditions of consent and authorization.
Background: All Non-Bedded HCUs and HCUs with less than 30 beds generating subject medical waste are required to obtain consent under Air Act and Water Act and authorization under the Rules.
Please note that the Notification is in vernacular and we have translated it to the best of our understanding. Once an official translation is available, we will share the same with you in case there is a requirement.
The Notification is linked below for your ease of reference.
Source: Gujarat Pollution Control Board
