Relatives of Yakub Hussain Sait, Kerala’s first Covid-19 victim, come out from Govt Medical College Ernakulam after being discharged on Saturday

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After the field-level surveillance of quarantined households, the local bodies now face a mammoth task of scientific disposal of waste being generated in these households. The state had over 1.5 lakh such households while the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) and central pollution control board had issued guidelines for safe disposal of waste from them.

Considering the practical difficulties of lockdown while finalising a protocol for collection and processing of waste from quarantined households, the authorities are now looking at two options – collecting and handing over the biomedical waste from households to the Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) run by IMAGE (Indian Medical Association Goes Eco-friendly) or to go for a deep pit burial.

Bio-medical waste have to be collected as per norms

The local self-government had earlier directed the local bodies to dispose used masks and gloves as per the disinfection procedure mandated by the health department at their place of origin, houses or institutions. As for the quarantine centres, bio-medical waste will have to specially collected and processed as per the CPCB guidelines.

Principal secretary (urban affairs) Biswanath Sinha said they were looking at deep pit burial as a safe option. “The primary condition will be that the burial should not made near any water source. Autoclave facility can be utilised for designated bio-medical waste if available. A meeting of all local body heads concerned is being convened this week and an operation protocol will be rolled out,” he said.

The Trivandrum city corporation has distributed designated bags to police stations and offices for collection of used masks and gloves. Those in quarantined households have also been directed to store used masks and gloves till the lockdown is lifted while specific instructions have been given on various types of other waste.

The MoHUA advisory said waste from quarantined households should be treated as bio-medical waste. It had first advised disposing these waste by incineration and then directed burial in a deep pit in case the incineration facilities are not available. Many local bodies lack such facilities and authorities are eyeing a deep pit burial owing to this.

