Karnataka: 2,401.52 tonnes of coronavirus waste piles up in nine months

BENGALURU: Karnataka has generated 2,401.52 tonnes of Covid biomedical waste from March till November, and almost all of it has been scientifically incinerated or deeply buried, data shows. Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KPSB) figures show that 2400.83 tonnes of the 2,401.52 tonnes generated have been disposed of scientifically. The process of incinerating Covid waste is carried out in a dual chamber incinerator, where temperatures are maintained between 850 degree Centigrade and 1,050 degree Centigrade. Extra precaution is taken to purify the fumes by a process called 'scrubbing', after which the fumes are released into the atmosphere through a chimney at a height of 30 metres.

Bengaluru Urban has generated 476 tonnes, the highest for any district in Karnataka. Chamarajanagara has generated just 7.1 tonnes, which is the least in the State followed by Chikkaballapur and Ramanagara which have generated 8.1 tonnes and 10.7 tonnes respectively till November.The decrease in the amount of such waste corresponds with the drop in the number of new infections since November. On November 7, one-day Covid waste generated and incinerated in the state was 595 kg.

"The quantity of Covid waste has come down in comparison to March/April," said Srinivasulu, KSPCB member secretary.The two bio medical waste management plants that cater to the city, Tumakuru, Mandya and Ramanagaram, are seeing "a reduction in Covid related waste by 30-40% of the peak level," said Masood Mallick, joint managing director, Ramky Enviro. Ramky owns Medicare Environmental Management Pvt Ltd, which caters to Bengaluru North, West and Tumakuru while Maridi Bio Industries caters to Bengaluru East and South, Mandya and Ramanagara. 

"The reduction in Covid waste is because the infections have come down and so has the intensity of the virus. There are lesser number of Covid patients in ICUs today. Hence, the number of medical consumables such as personal protection equipment, masks, gloves etc, have also come down. The waste generated per bed was much higher in the initial months," said Masood. 

In September after the government asked asymptomatic people and those with mild infection to home quarantine, the collection of Covid waste was diverted from hospitals to residential sector and quarantine centres, sources said. In the initial months of March and April, with the increase in cases the amount of Covid waste had soared because it also contained disposable cups and food plates that were used by patients, said sources. 

"Initial guidelines for bio medical waste disposal included everything that was used by or for the patient. So along with the personal protection equipment kits, masks and gloves, syringes, swabs, etc, we used to find disposable cups and food plates in the bio medical waste," he said.