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Garbage from households under quarantine to be incinerated
New Delhi Senior municipal officials said on Monday that the garbage generated in the residences of those under quarantine in Delhi will be treated as “biomedical
New Delhi Senior municipal officials said on Monday that the garbage generated in the residences of those under quarantine in Delhi will be treated as “biomedical waste, collected separately and sent for incineration to a plant in Nilothi.”
The move comes after the joint secretary and national mission director of the Swachh Bharat Mission (urban), VK Jindal, wrote in this regard to the principal secretaries (urban development) of all states and union territories on Saturday.
Jindal asked officials to ensure that trash emanating from such residences are “dealt with as domestic hazardous waste, collected in specially marked bags and separate vehicles, and be disposed of scientifically.”
As per figures provided by the Delhi government, around 35,000 persons have returned from foreign travel to Delhi since March 1 and all of them, besides their contacts, must remain in home quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days. Besides, around 950 persons are in quarantine at government facilities in Narela and Dwarka.
Deputy commissioner of Shahdara North Zone for the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), Ranen Kumar, said, “We are collecting a list of people under home quarantine, their names, telephone numbers and addresses from the district magistrates (DMs). Besides, we have constituted a special task force (STF), comprising senior officials of our public health and sanitation departments, for disposal of the garbage.”
“The standard operating procedure (SOP) is that our officials will reach the gates of these houses and ask the garbage to be deposited outside. First, the trash will be disinfected, from a safe distance, with a strong solution after which it will be put in a yellow bag and dumped in our vehicle,” he said.
Later, the trash will be handed over to a private company — SMS Water Grace BMW Pvt. Ltd — with which all three municipal corporations of Delhi have tied up for this purpose. The waste will be safely burnt at the company’s incinerator in Nilothi.
“This company takes care of biomedical waste from several municipal, Delhi government and Central government hospitals in the city, and has the wherewithal to handle garbage generated from households in quarantine,” said Sandip Jacques, an additional commissioner of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.
“Separate mini trucks or auto tippers are being arranged to collect and transport this garbage. Plus, we will give complete personal protective equipment gear, including a suit, masks, goggles and boot covers, to the staff who are assigned this job,” said Dr Lallan Verma, a senior public health official with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
Officials of SMS Water Grace BMW Pvt Ltd said they have been contacted by municipal officials and are coordinating with them in this regard. “We have told them we will take care of the garbage in houses under quarantine, alongside hospital waste. We are extending them our full cooperation,” said Prabal Pratap Singh, general manager (operations) with the company.
