Used masks in garbage pose threat to waste collectors - Hindustan Times
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Used masks in garbage pose threat to waste collectors

ByArun Dev
Apr 30, 2021 12:20 AM IST

Bengaluru: As Covid-19 cases continue to surge at unprecedented rate in Bengaluru, waste collectors live under constant threat of getting infected as residents in the city dispose of used masks and other medical wastes without segregating them from regular household waste

Bengaluru: As Covid-19 cases continue to surge at unprecedented rate in Bengaluru, waste collectors live under constant threat of getting infected as residents in the city dispose of used masks and other medical wastes without segregating them from regular household waste.

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HT Image

Waste collectors, employed with various dry waste management centres of the civic body, who have to comb through tonnes of dry waste to recycling centres, claim they find at least 1,000-2,000 used masks every day. Besides demanding better protective gear, these frontline workers in Bengaluru also appealed to residents to segregate waste at home and dispose of medical waste separately.

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On Thursday morning, segregation work was in full swing at the waste segregation centre in Bengaluru’s JP Nagar. “Our job is to go through the waste and find items that can be recycled…While segregating waste, we come across lots of used facemasks,” said Srinivas, a waste segregator at the centre.

Geetha, another segregator at the centre, said that even though they wear gloves and masks, but given the spike in Covid-19 cases across the city, they fear for their health. “We hear a lot of things. The virus in the second wave is much more powerful and spread faster. We also hear that wearing just one mask is not enough. So, there is a fear,” she said.

Mansoor, the supervisor of the centre, said that compared to the first wave, the number of masks in waste they collect has not increased. “Maybe people are using more reusable masks compared to disposable ones. But people are still not segregating. Ever since the pandemic started, we have been appealing to people to put medical waste in a separate cover,” he said.

Mansoor added that with more people getting treatment at home, the medical waste coming from the house pose a bigger threat to those working at the segregation centres. “It (medical waste) should be wrapped in paper. People should now segregate three kinds of waste – wet waste, dry waste, and sanitary waste; and masks should be thrown in sanitary waste,” Mansoor said.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, pourakarmikas (civic workers) in Bengaluru staged a protest, demanding protective gears like masks and gloves. They alleged that for the past nine months, they have not been issued any masks or gloves.

In a letter to the commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), BBMP Civic Workers’ Union demanded gloves, sanitiser and shoes for workers.

“We are working in these times without facilities. We also humans, just like you,” said Rathna, a civic worker, in a statement to the media. “We have been working for many years and despite the Covid (pandemic), we continue to work. But we haven’t received any of the facilities that we should have. The last time we got masks and gloves was last year. We have been asking for three weeks but we still haven’t been given masks and gloves,” she added.

They also demanded that transportation facilities should be provided to them since a lockdown is in effect.

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