Gaurav Kanthwal
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 26
With the increasing number of cases of home isolation, nine tonnes of Covid waste is being generated in the city on a daily basis.
As many as 40 vehicles, 45 drivers and more than 80 helpers have been pressed into service to collect the Covid waste in separated form (dry/waste) from home isolation cases in the city. The Municipal Corporation (MC) collects an estimated 450 tonne waste daily from various sources in the city.
“More teams will be pressed into service if the situation demands so. According to the guidelines, Covid waste is to be treated separately, and not as a bio-medical waste,” said Dr Amrit Pal Warring, Medical Officer of Health, MC. The MC has been instructed to collect Covid waste in separate form (dry/waste) from houses and three different-coloured bags are being provided to the collectors for the purpose. The bio-medical part of the waste is being sent to the Industrial Area for incineration while the solid waste is being treated as normal waste, but kept separately for 72 hours. Before processing, hypochlorite solution is sprayed on it.
RDF (refuse-derived fuel) waste such as municipal solid waste, industrial waste and commercial waste is also being taken out of it. “The civic body has also pressed eight GPRS-enabled vehicles in three shifts to carry out sanitisation in vulnerable areas of the city,” Warring added.
Residents complain that in localities where Covid cases were being detected, the local garbage collectors desist from collecting waste.
Warring said in such cases, residents could always dispose of the garbage in the MC vehicle. “The staff cannot say no to anyone whether it is a home isolation case or otherwise,” he said.
Where it goes
The bio-medical part of the Covid waste is sent to the Industrial Area for incineration while the solid waste is treated as normal waste, but kept separately for 72 hours. Before processing, hypochlorite solution is sprayed on it.
In numbers
450 tonne waste being collected by MC in city daily
9 tonne of Covid waste being generated in the city on a daily basis
40 vehicles, 45 drivers and over 80 helpers collecting Covid waste in the city
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