MALKANGIRI: With spike in COVID-19 cases and majority of patients recovering under home isolation, management of biomedical waste from households has emerged as a serious concern for the district administration in Malkangiri as it is yet to have a proper mechanism in place.
Sources said that with surge in cases, the amount of biomedical waste discharge from houses has increased significantly in the last couple of weeks. Large quantities of disposable masks, gloves, syringes, cannulas and other medical waste have been making their way to regular garbage piles as several infected people including suspects are isolating at home.
As per official data, of the 928 active COVID cases in the district, 802 are under home isolation. In Malkangiri town, 110 out of 134 active cases are recuperating at home. However, no mechanism has been devised by the administration for biomedical waste segregation or management with its open disposal posing health hazards apart from polluting the surrounding environment.
A municipality staff in Malkangiri town, on conditions of anonymity, said as per norms medical waste should be separated from regular waste and disposed of at a landfill through incinerating or autoclaving.
But till now, the civic body has not installed an incinerator due to which most of medical waste is assimilated with regular garbage. This has put lives of sanitation workers at additional risk as well. Contacted, Municipality EO Trishul Mardi admitted to substantial increase in biomedical waste generation recently.