Biomedical waste segregation on the cards

Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Mohali, June 15

The Municipal Corporation is ambitiously preparing for segregation of biomedical waste at source even as its solid waste segregation scheme has been a failure in spite of being launched twice and reducing the prices of different-coloured bins. The agenda for the same was tabled and approved during the House meeting here on Friday.

As per the agenda item, a private company will charge Rs 25 per kg to lift the biomedical waste generated at houses in the town and take it to the incinerator at Baleali village near Industrial Area, Phase VIII. However, the same is possible only if the company is provided with segregated waste.

In more than one year, the MC has not been able to segregate wet and dry waste. Hence, the implementation of this project will not be an easy task.

When asked, MC Commissioner Sandeep Hans said this change (waste segregation) cannot happen overnight. “We are short of staff. However, the process to recruit 160 employees was under way,” he added.

As per the company, a new incinerator is not required as the existing facility will be sufficient to deal with the biomedical waste.

As per the agenda, 50- 70 kg of biomedical waste is produced in the areas under the MC limits.

The agenda says that people have to be informed about waste segregation at their end. The house-to-house garbage collectors need to be given waste, including diapers, sanitary pads and other medical waste, separately. Segregation of biomedical waste at secondary source, where the collectors dump the garbage, is not possible.

However, the same holds true for wet and dry waste.

The MC had spent Rs 1.25 crore on the waste segregation project. On May 5 last year, Mayor Kulwant Singh had launched the project. However, it was again launched by Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and the event was said to be the ‘formal launch’ of the project.

Originally, a provision for purchasing 10,000 blue and green bins was made by the MC. However, it could sell only about 80 pairs to the residents. In August, the MC had lowered the price from Rs 140 per pair to Rs 94. However, it still did not boost the sales.

The MC itself has failed to put up enough separate bins at public places while it miserably failed to spread awareness about it.

About the project

• A private company will charge Rs 25 per kg to lift biomedical waste generated at houses in the town and take it to the incinerator at Baleali village near Industrial Area, Phase VIII. 
• For the purpose, residents have to be informed about waste segregation at their end. 
• The house-to-house garbage collectors need to be given waste, including diapers, sanitary pads and other medical waste, separately. 
• As per the agenda, 50-70 kg of biomedical waste is produced in the areas under the Mohali MC limits.