Segregate face masks, gloves or be ready to shell out hefty challan

Ravneet Singh

Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 17

Face masks used by residents are discarded along with other household waste in the city as the Municipal Corporation (MC) has failed to ensure segregation at the source or by cleanliness workers. Used face masks are a potential risk for spreading Covid-19.

As per Punjab Health Department, “Used masks should be considered as potentially infected medical waste. Residents have to dispose of used masks and gloves separately in a bag.”

Recently, Prof SS Marwaha, Chairman, PPCB, had said, “Masks used by the general public must be cut and discarded to rule out the possibility of reuse. Masks must be kept in a paper bag for 72 hours before handing over to household waste collector of the local bodies.”

Meanwhile an official in the MC lamented, “We are receiving hardly 1.5 to 2 kg face masks at our garbage dumping grounds daily from a population of over five lakh people in the city.”

In a letter to the MC, Davinderpal Singh, an activist, stated, “The waste generated from household garbage, including discarded masks, gloves, tissues and bandages should be treated as biomedical waste. These should be segregated from the general household waste.”

Dr Sumeet, epidemiologist, said, “The department recommends proper disposal of waste generated from known Covid-19 cases. There is a possibility of spreading coronavirus from masks and gloves used by unknown cases too. Certainly, waste collectors could get infected, but it also depends on the type of waste and exposure.”

Poonamdeep Kaur, Municipal Commissioner, said, “Officials have been asked to tell households to segregate face masks and gloves from general waste. We are already disposing of the waste separately at our end. A drive will be launched with help of motivators and posters put up across the city to create awareness among residents. If people fail to follow the guidelines, they will be issued challans.”

Residents could face challans upto Rs 2,000, she added.