Incinerator at GMC working again, relief for Mapusa hospital

MARGAO/MAPUSA: The incinerator used for disposing bio-medical waste at Goa Medical College (GMC) and Hospital, that was out of order for the last several days has now become functional, GMC dean Dr Shivanand Bandekar saidon Saturday.
The incinerator is used for disposing bio-medical waste from several laboratories in North Goa, as well as from the ESI-Covid hospital and health care centres from South Goa.
The bio-medical waste was stored in a room at the North Goa district hospital will be sent to GMC for disposal. Medical superintendent of the hospital, Mohandas Pednekar, said, “The issue of disposal of medical waste in this hospital has been resolved as the incinerator will be operational from Sunday.”
“The Mapusa incinerator operating on land belonging to the Assagao comunidade is currently functioning on an experimental basis, and since the waste cannot be processed there at present, it was being sent to the GMC,” chief officer of Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC), Kabir Shirgaonkar, had told reporters.
Shirgaonkar said that since the GMC incinerator broke down, they were instructed to send the bio medical waste to the Ponda municipality, but the Ponda council had sent back MMC’s truck.
Taking note of the breakdown of the incinerator at GMC, South Goa collector Ajit Roy wrote to the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) underscoring the need to set up a bio-medical waste storage facility in South Goa.