MARGAO
Collection and disposal of the Covid biomedical waste is still a far cry in the towns and villages for want of a mechanism in place.
If the Margao Municipal Council has utterly failed to provide yellow bags to home-isolated patients for collection of the Covid biomedical waste, a full-proof system for such a task is yet to fall in place.
Instances are galore wherein patients opting for home isolation have recovered from the virus, but the promised yellow bags never reached their doorsteps.
Blame it on the lack of coordination between the health and local bodies or simply abdication of responsibilities, Covid waste generated in the homes of patients has found its way in the general waste bins.
Take note, some of the panchayat bodies have roped in contractors for the collection of the Covid biomedical waste, but the absence of a system in place, including lack of coordination between the health and local bodies, has thrown the exercise haywire.
When The Goan contacted a home-isolated Covid patient from a Salcete village to check the efficacy of the biomedical waste collection, it found that neither the local health nor the panchayat body or the so-called contractor provided them with any yellow bags till date.
The home-isolated family of this patient has been trying to find out how to dispose of the waste, including the masks and personal items. “I and my family members have been in home isolation for the last 12 days, but we haven’t received any yellow bag from the health, panchayat or the contractor. We would be grateful if a yellow bag is dropped here for the safe disposal of the waste,” she said.
The disclosure made only goes to show that patients are not being provided with the yellow-coloured bags, but there is a total lack of coordination amongst the agencies concerned.
“This only goes to show that the no phone call is made to the patients by the health and panchayat people and the contractor,” sources said.
Take the case of the Margao Municipal Council. Blame it on coordination between the civic body and the local health centre, many a patient have not been provided the yellow-coloured bags meant for the collection of the Covid biomedical waste during their home isolation.
The council has set up two teams of workers for the collection of the biomedical waste, but the absence of a dedicated mechanism to collect it from the homes of patients has rendered the teams without much work.
Incidentally, South Goa District Collector Ajit Roy is already in receipt of authorization from the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) to store the COVID biomedical waste at the Margao Industrial Estate, but an effective mechanism on the biomedical waste from the homes of patients still eludes the authorities.
