Pune: Biomedical waste like used PPE kits, masks, face shield and disposable food plates were seen thrown on the road outside the Balewadi quarantine centre run by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Tuesday. Citizens have raised concerns over this public health issue, but PMC officials claim the centre has standard protocol for disposing of biomedical waste and it must have been some errant ambulance driver behind this incident.
The ‘National Institute of Construction Management and Research’ (NICMAR), Balewadi sports stadium and Sadanand Regency hotel – all located along the Dehu Road bypass on Mumbai-Bengaluru highway – have been converted to quarantine centres by the PMC after the Covid-19 outbreak started in the city. PMC provides the PPE kits, masks, gloves, face shields and other items required for protecting the medical staff and doctors from contracting the infection at the centre while treating patients. PMC has also appointed an agency for collection and disposal of biomedical waste generated at these centres. While the coronavirus can stay active from several hours to days, the throwing away of used PPE kits and masks possesses the greatest threat to nearby citizens.
Jayant Kamble, Resident Health Officer at NICMAR COVID Care Centre said, “The NICMAR centre has a total of 969 isolation beds and 939 patients are admitted to the centre. The doctors and staff working here require 50 kits every day and they use it for more than six hours daily. These kits are later disposed of in a big container meant for collecting biomedical waste inside the centre itself.”
Jaydeep Pawar, Additional Municipal Commissioner of Aundh-Baner Ward office said, “It is not possible that authorities at the COVID Care Centre will throw away biomedical waste on road. The doctors and staff at the centre take off their kits and send them for disposal before leaving the centre premises. It may be that some ambulance driver might have thrown it away. I have asked our staff to clear all biomedical waste lying on the road immediately and investigate who is behind this careless act.”
