COVID-19 centre trash torment for Berhampur residents

BERHAMPUR: The foul smell emanating from garbage dumped on the entrance of the dedicated COVID health centre at the City Hospital has made life miserable for people residing in the vicinity.

Even as the centre is a restricted zone with section 144 of CrPC imposed in the area, the main road in front of it is accessible by all. Apart from around 100 houses at Bogula Street, on the front of the centre, a residential area with 500 dwellings is situated on its left side. The back side of the centre has a sizeable number of hotels and malls while the NH-59 passes through its right.

As per norms, such centres offer care for all cases that are clinically assigned as moderate. The facilities are required to have separate areas for suspect and confirmed cases. Each centre is mapped to one or more dedicated Covid hospital.

As the centre at the City Hospital violates most of the norms, people residing near it have been urging the authorities concerned to shift it to another location. However, their appeals have gone in vain as the authorities have not even initiated steps to clear garbage comprising PPE kits, used syringes, saline bottles and left over food from the centre’s premises. They blamed the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) for the mess. The civic body, on the other hand, said it is the duty of the hospital staff to clear the waste.

Meanwhile, people residing near the centre have warned of staging a protest if action is not taken to shift it to an alternate location.