Even as people continue to dispose swine flu masks in public spaces, the civic body's Rs 2.5 crore incineration project to dispose them is still incomplete
Even as people continue to dispose swine flu masks in public spaces, the civic body's Rs 2.5 crore incineration project to dispose them is still incomplete
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Swine flu pandemic in the city led to an increased sale of masks and in turn a need for proper disposal. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), however, does not have its own disposal system. In fact, its Rs 2.5 crore-worth incineration project is still underway and will take around two months to be ready.
The first swine flu death in Pune was reported on August 3, and since then 27 deaths have been reported. "Around six lakh masks have been sold in the past 25 days," said Dr Dilip Sarda, president, Indian Medical Association, Pune.u00a0u00a0
Easy disposal
"Private hospitals in the city have their own incineration system, but what about the common man who uses disposable masks?," asked Dr Paresh Kale, a dentist. "We need a system that can incinerate these masks on a daily basis," he said.
Dr R R Pardeshi, head of PMC's health department, said, "Biomedical waste comes from 574 hospitals and we had given the disposal work to Passco Environmental Solutions." Passco's director Pradeep Mulay, who is in charge of PMC's project near Kailas Crematorium, said that with the help of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, the project will be functional in the next couple of months.
"City hospitals release 250 kg of biomedical waste per hour, which includes a sizeable number of used masks," said Mulay. He suggested that hospitals should keep buckets at hospital gates where users can dispose their masks.
Sarda pointed that disposable and N95 masks should be disposed within six hours of use and they can even be burnt at home.
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