July 27, 2021
1 min read

Over 56K tonnes of Covid biomedical waste generated in a year

Covid-19 BMW is required to be segregated as per Schedule-I of Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016…reports Asian Lite News.

As much as 56,898.14 tonnes of Covid-19 bio-medical waste (BMW) was generated between June 2020 and June 2021 in India, as per the data collected by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

This data was collected through an app — COVID-19 BWM — developed by the CPCB to track the generation and disposal of Covid-19 BMW from across the states and Union Territories, Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, said in a statement in the Upper House in reply to a question by Akhilesh Prasad Singh.

Covid-19 BMW is required to be segregated as per Schedule-I of Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016.

Thereafter, the collected BMW is required to be handed over to the Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) operator for final treatment and disposal. The CPCB has issued guidelines for ‘Handling, Treatment and Disposal of Waste Generated during Treatment/Diagnosis/Quarantine of COVID-19 Patients’ under the provisions of BMWM Rules, 2016.

Smaller states and UTs such as Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim do not have CBWTF, the data revealed.

In all, 202 plants have the capacity to process about 1184.8 tonnes BMW per day, it added.

The top ten states contributed 72% of total COVID-19 waste between June and December 2020. This quantity was added to the regular BMW generation, said a study, “Assessment of bio-medical waste before and during the emergency of novel Coronavirus disease pandemic in India: A gap analysis.” It published in Waste Management & Research, journal of Sage.

India has generated over 32,996 tonnes of COVID-19 waste in the first wave. This huge amount of waste of medical and non-medical equipment such as PPE kits, masks, gloves, cotton swabs, and shoe covers, needles, syringes, said Rahul Rajak and Jitender Prasad, doctoral students of International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, Ravi Kumar Mahto, associate fellow, Delhi Assembly Research Centre, and Aparajita Chattopadhyay, professor, IIPS, authors of the study.

ALSO READ-Covid vaccines for kids likely by September

READ MORE-Covid-19 death toll tops 23,000 in Pakistan

Previous Story

73 critical roads along Indo-China border being developed on priority

Next Story

‘Forest’ not defined in any Central laws, says govt

Latest from -Top News

Multi-alignment, upgraded

With US ties strained and China tense, New Delhi taps Europe’s harder edge for co-development, clean tech and strategic autonomy, writes Manoj Menon India is recalibrating its great-power hedging as frictions with

India-EU Trade Deal Breakthrough Soon?

Negotiators report increased momentum in discussions, which have been given a boost from US President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive…reports Asian Lite News India and the European Union aim to finalise a trade

Europe Seeks Peace in Gaza

European countries condemn Israeli interception of Gaza-bound flotilla, demand safety of citizens…reports Asian Lite News Israel’s interception of an international flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza has sparked condemnation across Europe, with

GAZA: Egypt to Host Peace Talks

Egypt hopes the discussions will help “end the war and the suffering of the brotherly Palestinian people, which has continued for two consecutive years…reports Asian Lite News Egypt will host Israeli and

‘My Injuries Made Me’

During his four-year battle with injury, the incumbent fast bowling spearhead made occasional appearances but couldn’t bear the workload and demands of red-ball cricket….reports Asian Lite News England tearaway Jofra Archer believes
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Afghanistan lacks equipment to detect Omicron variant

The country has asked World Health Organization (WHO) to provide

Global Covid caseload tops 515.4 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 515.4 million, while the