J&K Generates 9.34 Tonnes of Biomedical Waste a Day but No Trail of Where it Goes

JAMMU: Every day, more than nine tonnes of biomedical waste are generated across Jammu and Kashmir. Used syringes, contaminated dressings, pathological material, discarded medicines and other healthcare waste leave hospitals, clinics, laboratories and nursing homes and enter a regulated chain meant to ensure their safe collection, transportation, treatment and final disposal.

The Jammu & Kashmir Pollution Control Committee's (JKPCC) Annual Report on Bio-Medical Waste Management for 2025, submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), records that 9,028 healthcare facilities, with 23,153 beds across the Union Territory, generate 9,342.77 kilograms of biomedical waste daily.

If daily generation stayed broadly the same through the year, the annual volume would be more than 3,400 tonnes.

The district-wise figures show where the waste comes from. Kashmir accounts for 7,252.77 kilograms of reported biomedical waste every day, while Jammu Province accounts for 2,090.081 kilograms. The Valley therefore generates more than three-quarters of the Union Territory's reported daily biomedical waste.

Srinagar alone accounts for 2,306 kilograms per day, followed by Baramulla with 1,768 kilograms and Kupwara with 994.26 kilograms. Budgam is reported at 468 kilograms, Pulwama at 341.5 kilograms, Anantnag at 303.3 kilograms and Ganderbal at 264.45 kilograms per day.

The Jammu region also contributes a substantial quantity. Samba is reported to generate 238.089 kilograms per day and Kathua 237.769 kilograms, while Reasi accounts for 187.980 kilograms and Udhampur for 185.829 kilograms.

Together, Srinagar, Baramulla and Kupwara generate about 5,068 kilograms a day, more than half of the Union Territory's total.

How the chain is meant to work

Biomedical waste cannot be handled like ordinary municipal garbage. Under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, it must be segregated at source and moved through an authorised chain before being treated and finally disposed of. Improper handling at any stage can expose healthcare workers, waste handlers and the public to biological and chemical risks.

The report records three Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs) in Jammu and Kashmir. The number alone does not show whether the Union Territory has enough treatment capacity. That depends on the installed capacity of each facility, how much of it is used, and which areas it covers. With treatment concentrated in a few facilities and waste generated at thousands of healthcare establishments across scattered districts, collection and transport become a key part of the system.

An 817-kilogram daily gap

The report records about 2,029 kilograms of biomedical waste treated every day in Jammu and 6,497 kilograms in Kashmir through common facilities, a total of about 8,526 kilograms a day.

Against reported generation of 9,342.77 kilograms a day, that leaves a difference of about 816.77 kilograms daily.

The gap is not evenly spread. In Kashmir, common facilities treat about 89.6 per cent of reported generation, leaving roughly 756 kilograms a day. In Jammu, the figure is about 97.1 per cent, leaving roughly 61 kilograms. More than nine-tenths of the difference is in Kashmir.

This difference cannot automatically be described as untreated waste or illegal disposal. The rules allow other routes, including captive treatment by healthcare facilities and deep burial in specified circumstances, such as remote areas without access to a common facility. The report also identifies these mechanisms.

However, the report does not bring together, in one place, how much waste goes through each route: how much is treated at common facilities, how much through captive systems, how much is deep-buried, how much is recycled after treatment, and how much ends up as final residue and where that residue is disposed of. The public record has several pieces of this picture, but not a single trail tracking each kilogram from generation to final destination.

A pattern seen in municipal waste

A similar gap appears in the Union Territory's municipal solid waste data. Official Solid Waste Management figures for 2025–26 show J&K generates 1,496.54 tonnes of municipal waste a day and collects 1,489.54 tonnes, but reports only 1,068.53 tonnes as treated. That leaves about 428 tonnes a day, roughly 28.6 per cent of generation, with no clear record after collection.

As with biomedical waste, the shortfall is larger in Kashmir. The Valley treats about 57.4 per cent of the municipal waste it collects, against 91.2 per cent in Jammu. The same data shows Jammu Division has no authorised engineered landfill in operation, while Kashmir relies largely on Srinagar's Achan site, raising separate questions about where treated residue from any waste stream ultimately goes.

Violations and notices

The JKPCC records 6,725 violations by healthcare facilities, including 3,587 in Jammu and 3,138 in Kashmir. This does not necessarily mean 6,725 separate establishments each committed one violation. A violation may represent an inspection finding, and the report does not state how many unique facilities were involved.

The report records 750 show-cause notices or directions issued to defaulters, including 595 to healthcare facilities in Jammu and 135 in Kashmir, along with action involving a common treatment facility.

The two divisions recorded a similar number of violations, but Jammu issued more than four times as many notices. In Jammu, there was roughly one notice for every six violations; in Kashmir, roughly one for every 23.

A show-cause notice is an enforcement step, not the end of a case. The report does not include figures on what followed: how many establishments complied, how many faced penalties or further action, how many cases remain pending, or whether repeat violations were detected.

Enforcement follow-up has been an issue in municipal waste too. Between April 2025 and March 2026, the JKPCC imposed environmental compensation of Rs 35.63 crore on 13 authorities for violating the Solid Waste Management Rules. Reported recovery stands at about Rs 30 lakh, less than one per cent of the amount imposed.

Training and Logistics

The report also lists 555 workshops and training programmes, while 1,799 occupiers are reported to have organised training. Biomedical waste management begins where the waste is generated, and poor segregation at source can affect every later stage of handling and treatment.

With most of the reported waste generated in Kashmir and treatment concentrated in three common facilities, the system depends on transport arrangements, collection schedules and monitoring. Authorities need to be able to verify that waste from distant healthcare establishments, including those in districts such as Kupwara and Baramulla, reaches an authorised destination.

What the report shows, and what it does not

The 2025 annual report shows that 9,028 healthcare facilities and occupiers with 23,153 beds are part of the reported network. It records 9,342.77 kilograms of biomedical waste generated daily and about 8,526 kilograms treated through common facilities, along with other treatment and disposal routes. It records 6,725 violations and 750 show-cause notices or directions.

It does not reconcile these figures into a full account of how much waste is collected, which treatment method is used for how much, how much is recycled or finally disposed of, and how many violations were resolved.

The figures do not, by themselves, show that biomedical waste is being dumped or left untreated. Nor do the violation figures mean thousands of separate establishments broke the rules. What they show is that the official record does not yet trace every kilogram from the hospital ward to its final authorised destination.