Nearly 23 tons of Covid-19 related biomedical waste generated in last 1 year: lawmaker Amme Yajnik

New Delhi: Noting that the mishandling of the Covid-related bio-medical waste by the corporations or municipal agencies has been creating a health threat to the common people and polluting air, water and soil, Congress lawmaker Amme Yajnik on Tuesday demanded that the Government take measures to make better disposal of these bio-medical waste.

Speaking on the issue, Yajnik further said that in the last one year around 23 tons of Covid related biomedical waste such as PPE kit, masks, shoe cover were generated. In the cities recording a higher number of cases, most of the hospitals and nursing homes have not been disposing of this waste material adequately and in most cases, it was seen littered on the common dumping grounds and landfill sites in open, she added.

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"Most of the municipal agencies have not been provided with safety gear while disposing these hazardous bio- medical waste. The matter becomes more serious when the rag-pickers who are mostly children, are prone to infection", Yajnik further said.

Considering the urgency, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu advised Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was sitting in the House, to issue an advisory to the states in this regard.

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