CUTTACK: Dumping of hazardous Covid bio-medical waste on Mahanadi river bed has raised serious concerns even as the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has turned a blind eye to the menace. The banks of Mahanadi near Jagatpur New Industrial Area, where garbage and construction debris are dumped daily, has now turned into a spot for disposing off bio-medical waste, particularly Covid discards.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, gowns, gloves, masks and venflon attachments used to treat Covid patients can be seen dumped on the banks of the river near Pepsi Road. The hazardous bio-medical waste is suspected to have been dumped by local scrap vendors. The waste has also made its way into the river.
Sources said even as instructions have been issued for collection of bio-medical waste from Covid hospitals in the city through a special garbage carrying vehicle for safe disposal through combustion of waste with the help of incinerators, lack of enforcement has emboldened the violators. The hazardous material poses grave risk for scrap vendors who segregate and dispose off the bio-medical waste on the river bank.
Locals residing near the dumping site expressed apprehension of getting infected. “There is a slum near the site where the bio-medical waste are dumped. Domestic animals including cattle and goats graze at the spot. If slum children come in contact with it, it will be hazardous for them,” said a city-based health expert.
He said the civic body must come up with a plan to ensure safe disposal of bio-medical waste. While locals have urged the administration to conduct a probe into the matter and initiate action against those responsible for the menace, attempts to elicit response on the issue from City Health Officer Satyabrat Mohapatra proved futile.