GURUGRAM: With a significant increase in fresh Covid cases, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is planning to set up a bio-medical waste disposal facility solely for such waste generated by households, mostly of patients in home isolation.
The corporation is soon going to identify a site to set up the facility, which will be a pilot project, to incinerate around five tonnes of bio-medical waste every day.
MCG officials said the bio-medical waste generated in Gurugram and Rewari is handled by a single firm, Biotic. Creating an additional facility will ease the burden on the firm and will help MCG save some money, they said. The civic body is currently paying Rs 26 per kg of bio-medical waste to Biotic for disposal.
“We are in the process of identifying space to set up the facility. The idea is to scientifically dispose of the bio-medical waste generated by households in Gurugram separately. This is a pilot project in which two companies shortlisted by the central government will provide us incinerators,” Sonia Duhan, MCG consultant for solid waste management and Swachh Bharat Mission, told TOI.
She added, “If the project is successful, we will adopt it for disposal of biomedical waste. The pilot project will start as soon as we receive approvals from the departments concerned.”
At present, contaminated bio-medical wet waste from Covid-19 patients in home isolation in the city is also going to Biotic, but it should be segregated by the households before disposal. MCG officials said Gurugram is generating around 1.5 tonnes to 2 tonnes of bio-medical waste every day at a time when Covid cases are at peak.
Gurugram has generated 44,536kg of bio-medical waste in November till date. The city saw a spurt in bio-medical waste since Covid cases started being reported here. In March, it generated 2,418kg of bio-medical waste, which rose by nearly seven times to 15,076kg in April. A total of 33,502kg of bio-medical waste was generated in May, which increased to 1.14 lakh kg the next month and 1.37 lakh kg in July. August saw a slight dip at 1.09 lakh kg, which again rose to 1.34 lakh kg in September and 1.24 lakh kg in October.
“We had raised the issue of food waste of Covid patients being mixed with bio-medical waste with MCG officials. The amount of bio-medical waste generated in October was less than that generated in September,” said Vishesh Gaur, director of Biotic.