Karnataka   

Medical waste being dumped in residential areas

DAVANGERE: Medical waste is being disposed of on vacant sites in Davangere city, particularly in MCC A and B blocks. This is proving to be a nuisance for people living in the locality.

Some nursing homes dump their waste on the outskirts, while a few others have, in agreement with the Davangere City Corporation, appointed an agency to collect, treat, and then bury the waste in a garbage pit set up especially for the purpose.

Residents of various localities are helpless as they are unaware as to which hospital is responsible for dumping the waste. Some residents of MCC B block called up Commissioner of the Davangere City Corporation Pranalinga Shivasali and appealed to him to send pourakarmikas to clear the waste. But the Commissioner said the workers had no gloves to handle the waste.

He, however, sent some pourkarmikas when some senior citizens complained of a stench emanating from the garbage. Tthe pourakarmikas refused to remove it saying that it was risky to do so. Some residents then provided them with gloves.

The residents have decided to deploy youngsters from their locality to patrol the area at night. They have also decided to write to the owners of all vacant sites to either construct houses or fence their sites, in order to prevent unauthorised entry.

About a month ago, Mr. Shivasali, who was upset after seeing medical waste dumped on the roads in MCC B block, asked pourakarmikas to shift the garbage from the roadside and leave it in front of a nursing home. The nursing home authorities, who claimed that it did not dump the waste there, had criticized the Commissioner for his action. They also claimed that it had an arrangement with a private agency to collect medical waste and dispose of it on the outskirts of the city. Many councillors too, criticised the official, along with the nursing home authorities.

Mr. Shivasali told The Hindu that the corporation had appointed an agency to collect, treat and destroy medical waste. He said the agency had been given two acres of land on the outskirts of the city on a 20-year lease. The agency has put in place an incinerator, an autoclave and a mutilator. Used syringes, glass pieces and various other medical wastes are broken into small pieces and boiled at a temperature of 101 degrees Celsius. Then, it is buried.

He said the agency had a vehicle which was making over eight trips all over the city every day to collect medical waste from nursing homes and hospitals for treatment. Unfortunately, many nursing homes had not utilised this facility, he said and added that this had resulted in dumping of waste on vacant sites and in residential localities.

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