The waste includes used face masks & gloves at quarantine centres
In Uttarakhand a total of 811 metric tonnes of biomedical waste was generated from different quarantine centres during the pandemic of Covid-19. This waste includes face masks, gloves and hand sanitizers.
In response a question of independent MLA Pritam Singh Panwar, the forest, environment and solid waste management minister Harak Singh Rawat said that from March 2020 to February 15, 2021, a total of 811 MT biomedical waste was generated and out of it 657 was treated as per the provisions. He informed the house that the central pollution control board has set up guidelines for treatment of waste generated by the patients of Covid-19. As per these guidelines the masks and gloves from the quarantine centres should be kept for 72 hours in paper bag and then disposed.
The minister assured the house that all guidelines are being followed in disposal of bio medical waste in the state. He said that there are two collective biomedical wastes treatment centres in the state. These centres of 100 kilogrammes waste treatment capacity per hour are located at Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. The minister claimed that all the district magistrates, additional director and officers of health department have been asked to ensure that all the guidelines for safe disposal of Covid-19 waste are followed.
