KOLKATA: Bio-medical waste collection from households affected by Covid-19 has suffered a setback with several patients and their family failing to segregate them from other domestic refuse.
According to a spokesperson of a private agency that has been entrusted with the job of collecting bio-medical wastes from households where Covid positive patients are in quarantine, mixing of general and bio-medical waste has created a major crisis and if not solved, it will get compounded and the scientific disposal system will crumble under pressure. Even some Covid-designate hospitals are also handing over mixed waste to the private agency, the spokesperson alleged.
According to the spokesperson, people in several wards are pouring food leftovers like rice, pulses and cooked vegetables into the yellow bag that are being provided by the agency for accumulating bio-medical waste such as used masks, head cover/cap, gloves, tissues, toiletries and diaper (both adult & child), among others.
This is not all. Plastic bottles, green coconuts and even flower bouquets are being poured into the yellow bags. This is posing a serious threat to the incinerator of the agency that is used for scientific burning of bio-medical waste. “Our incinerator is under threat as it can’t take plastics, green coconuts or flower bouquets. Also, the weight of waste has become another threat for the incinerator,” said the agency spokesperson. An official of the agency alleged that though they were supposed to collect 270gm of bio-medical wastes from each Covid household, in several households across the city the weight was exceeding a kilo.
A Kolkata Municipal Corporation official conceded that the situation was really alarming and needed to be solved at the earliest. “The agency has complained to us in writing, seeking a solution. We are working out a formula to offer a solution,” the KMC official said.
According to the civic official, the KMC solid waste management department workers, armed with a protective gear, will visit households where Covid patients have been quarantined and collect all food and general waste. “According to the Central Pollution Control Board guidelines, we will insist that people keep three separate bags in a household where a Covid-positive patient is in quarantine. While our workers will collect all general waste kept in a black bag, the agency will collect bio-medical waste in yellow and red bags,” the KMC official said.
According to a Central Pollution Control Board guideline, the red bag will contain used PPEs such as goggles, face-shield, splash proof apron, hazmat suit and nitrile gloves. “Both the civic workers and the agency workers will take adequate personal protection while handling waste and the KMC workers will need to disinfect the black bag every day,” a KMC senior official said.
According to a spokesperson of a private agency that has been entrusted with the job of collecting bio-medical wastes from households where Covid positive patients are in quarantine, mixing of general and bio-medical waste has created a major crisis and if not solved, it will get compounded and the scientific disposal system will crumble under pressure. Even some Covid-designate hospitals are also handing over mixed waste to the private agency, the spokesperson alleged.
According to the spokesperson, people in several wards are pouring food leftovers like rice, pulses and cooked vegetables into the yellow bag that are being provided by the agency for accumulating bio-medical waste such as used masks, head cover/cap, gloves, tissues, toiletries and diaper (both adult & child), among others.
This is not all. Plastic bottles, green coconuts and even flower bouquets are being poured into the yellow bags. This is posing a serious threat to the incinerator of the agency that is used for scientific burning of bio-medical waste. “Our incinerator is under threat as it can’t take plastics, green coconuts or flower bouquets. Also, the weight of waste has become another threat for the incinerator,” said the agency spokesperson. An official of the agency alleged that though they were supposed to collect 270gm of bio-medical wastes from each Covid household, in several households across the city the weight was exceeding a kilo.
A Kolkata Municipal Corporation official conceded that the situation was really alarming and needed to be solved at the earliest. “The agency has complained to us in writing, seeking a solution. We are working out a formula to offer a solution,” the KMC official said.
According to the civic official, the KMC solid waste management department workers, armed with a protective gear, will visit households where Covid patients have been quarantined and collect all food and general waste. “According to the Central Pollution Control Board guidelines, we will insist that people keep three separate bags in a household where a Covid-positive patient is in quarantine. While our workers will collect all general waste kept in a black bag, the agency will collect bio-medical waste in yellow and red bags,” the KMC official said.
According to a Central Pollution Control Board guideline, the red bag will contain used PPEs such as goggles, face-shield, splash proof apron, hazmat suit and nitrile gloves. “Both the civic workers and the agency workers will take adequate personal protection while handling waste and the KMC workers will need to disinfect the black bag every day,” a KMC senior official said.
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