THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The disposal of tonnes of unused and expired medical waste collected from households and medical shops by the Haritha Karma Sena is becoming a major challenge for Clean Kerala Company Ltd (CKCL) — the agency deployed by the local self-government department for the scientific handling of non-biodegradable waste.
With segregation and waste collection increasing exponentially, the Haritha Karma Sena members are collecting tonnes of medical waste from households and medical shops across the state. There are more than 25,000 medical shops, including nearly 19,000 retail outlets.
Recently, the Haritha Karma Sena collected more than 7 tonnes of medical waste. According to officials of CKCL, the quantity of medical waste is likely to go up as more collection drives are being planned. The district drug controller offices of four districts have entered into an agreement with the CKCL to allocate funds for the safe disposal of unused and expired drugs that could pose serious environmental pollution and health hazard.
The CKCL has entered into an agreement with KEIL (Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Ltd) for disposing of the collected medical waste. According to an official of CKCL, the waste has to be moved weekly or bi-weekly, and the collection will be scaled up immediately.
The CKCL is in talks with the district authorities of the Department of Drug Controller to source funds for the safe disposal of medical waste. “The Drugs Control Department has funds, and the Haritha Karma Sena is collecting medical waste in all districts. The department has agreed to provide fund for disposal of waste in Kollam, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. If they don’t agree to provide funds in other districts, the respective local bodies will have to bear the expenses,” said the official. As per the government order, KEIL is collecting Rs 32 per kg for the disposal of medical waste. The biomedical waste treatment facility has the capacity to treat 16 metric tonnes of biomedical waste per day.
Earlier, the All Kerala Chemists and Druggists’ Association (AKCDA) had launched PROUD (Programme on Removal of Unused Drugs) in Thiruvananthapuram district on a pilot basis, and later the project was implemented in Kollam.
“We had installed bins and collected and disposed of around 40 tonnes of biomedical waste. Now, the project has been taken over by the CKCL,” said state president K N Mohan of AKCDA. He said during 2020-21, the government has allocated around Rs 3.25 crores for expanding the project. “Unfortunately, the project didn’t progress because of the pandemic,” he said.