ROURKELA: THE Government guidelines on management of bio-medical waste generated from coronavirus, notwithstanding, used personal protective equipment (PPE), such as hazmat suits, gloves and facemasks were found strewn on the banks of river Brahmani at Vedvyas. The site has been earmarked for funeral of people succumbing to Covid-19. The Rourkela administration hurriedly swung into action to clear the hazardous waste on Thursday.
Sources said PPEs including water-resistant aprons, masks, disposable eye wear are frequently thrown around on the river bank adjacent to the improvised crematorium complex, exposing people to the risk of contracting the virus apart from contamination of soil and river water. On Thursday, some water-resistant aprons were found thrown in the bushes, while remnants of half-burnt aprons and other protective gears were spread over large areas of the river bank near the makeshift pyres used for cremation of Covid-19 victims. Several disposable goggles were also found lying on the concrete steps leading to the improvised crematorium and the river bank.
The officer who is in charge of monitoring funerals of Covid-19 victims said the portion of the river bank where Covid cremations are done is a prohibited area and no one is supposed to go there. But, the restricted area has no barricading yet and is easily accessible to people.Social activist Krishna Sahu said there is every possibility of the PPE waste contaminating the river bank with polluted water percolating to the river.
Sahu said since 2018, the Odisha State Pollution Control Board has banned cremation on the river bank and a signboard was put up. But the signboard soon vanished and in the absence of monitoring and enforcement, the cremations continued.
When the matter was brought to the notice of Rourkela ADM Aboli Sunil Naravane, she described it as an irresponsible act and said the administration has taken a serious note of it. The ADM sent teams to the spot to clear the biomedical waste. Four contractual staff of the Hi-Tech Covid-19 Hospital handle bodies of infected victims.