Employees at Primary Health Centre Chanapora here in Srinagar outskirts are dumping biomedical waste especially that stuff which are being used for the care of Covid-19 patients alongside the roads causing health concerns for the residents.
Ironically the dumping site is only few meters away from police post Chanapora.
This Reporter shot a video when two employees from the PHC came out with two dust bins loaded with garbage and medical waste and littered the same on the road. All this happened during late hours when roads were deserted and it was quite dark.
Locals said that this is continuing despite their repeated appeals to the authorities to take steps to solve the problem. “The dumping and littering of medical waste will pose a serious problem to people. A proper mechanism should be adopted to dump this waste,” they said.
The improper garbage disposal not only makes the area filthy but also increases the risk of infections and mosquito-borne diseases. The biomedical waste can contain toxic materials and can even harm the conservancy workers who clear the waste, said residents.
Chief Medical Officer Budgam, Dr Tajamul was not available for his comments as his cell phone was switched off, however, an official told news agency KNT that the biomedical waste from the hospital is usually dumped in the dustbins meant for domestic waste. “There is always a garbage collection unit where it is being set on fire,” he said.
An employee from the PHC in question claimed that it is only food waste that is dumped in the common garbage bin. “The biomedical waste is disposed separately after it is segregated in a collection unit,” he said. However, when one looks at the waste, it turns out purely biomedical one and not food waste. KNT
