MARGAO
Disposal of bio-medical waste at a dark spot at Comba instead of the waste going to the treatment plant at the Kundaim industrial estate has brought to the fore the moot question – whether unscrupulous institutions continue to dispose of the bio-medical waste at open spaces instead of sending the waste to the Kundaim unit for disposal.
The bio-medical waste consisting of expired tablets, creams and other items was found dumped at the dark spot at Comba, which was recently cleared at the initiative of the Margao Municipal ward councillor Shagun Naik.
After the councillor drew the attention of MMC Chief Officer Rohit Kadam to the disposal of the medical waste at the dark spot, Sanitary Inspector Sanjay Sanguelkar descended at the spot with his team, only to find that the bio-medical waste consisted of expired tablets, creams and other items. “We have found in the waste some documents showing that the waste has come from at least two-three institutions. We have collected the waste for investigations,” he said.
The MMC staff, however, did not receive much help and assistance from the CCTV surveillance cameras installed at the dark spots. Even as the sanitary inspector pointed out that the Margao Municipality will now write to the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) to investigate the matter in detail, the moot question remains unanswered – why are the institutions still preferring to dispose off the waste at the dark spots when the rules mandates them to register them with the agency.
The episode has further brought to the fore the question whether the MMC will conduct a survey of the institutions which have still not registered with the agency that have set up the facility at Kundaim.
MMC Comba councillor Sagun Naik has asked the MMC officials to track down the unscrupulous miscreants behind the disposal of the bio-medical waste at Comba.
“The place was cleared of all the waste dumped at the dark spots. We have even installed CCTV cameras to rein in on the unscrupulous elements,” Shagun said.
