Mumbai COVID-19 waste generation up to 50,000 kg in first week of April

According to reports, with the cases of coronavirus being on a rise, there has been a spike in the amount of medical waste that is being generated.

The medical waste includes municipal solid waste (MSW) and biomedical waste (BMW) from COVID-19 care centres and home quarantine. According to data shared by Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in the first week of April, the city has already generated a daily average of 50,000 kg COVID-19 waste. In the month of March, the average was 39,000 kg daily.

Moreover, there are 279 institutional quarantine and 5,920 residential quarantine areas from where civic staff as well as a private firm, operating a biomedical plant in Deonar, collects waste. In addition, since April 2, the total amount of BMW and MSW has crossed 50,000 kg. After the second wave hit the city, the civic body of Mumbai started operating many COVID-19 care centres that were shut following a dip in cases.

On the other hand, the BMC has taken an initiative to reduce the waste transported to the dumping grounds. In this initiative, the BMC’s F/N ward – comprising of Matunga, Sion and Wadala -- has beautified the garbage segregation centre by installing vertical gardens through councillors special fund.

Mumbai, which is the financial capital of India, flushes 655 million litres of untreated sewage into the sea every day. According to reports, last year, the National Green Tribunal fined BMC INR 34 crore for this. Even though the city’s landfills are overflowing, new dumping grounds are yet to be found.