In an initiative to check the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the twin cities, the Dharwad district administration and Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation have taken steps to dispose of in a scientific way waste generated from houses where foreign-returned persons have been quarantined.
The administration has decided to dispose of waste from such houses through scientific process, as it would do in the case of bio-medical waste. As per a Government Order, waste from houses of quarantined persons is treated as bio-medical waste.
According to a release issued by the authorities, the regular pourakarmikas (civic servants) have been asked not to gather waste from such houses and that an agency has been fixed for the purpose.
Accordingly, waste from such houses is being collected by trained staff from Rio Green Environ India, located at Tarihal Industrial Estate in Hubballi. The staff wearing safety wear and protective gear are collecting waste and taking it to the unit where it is burnt in incinerators as per guidelines. Environmental Engineer of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Sridhar said that the data pertaining to home quarantined persons had been shared with the agency to enable it to collect waste on a regular basis. They would be assisted by health inspectors in case of any issues, he said.
Aniruddh Bengeri of Rio Green Environ said that apart from the requisite staff no other employee was being allowed to enter the incinerator premises and all necessary precautions were being taken. Shortly, a time-table for door-to-door collection would be finalised to streamline waste collection, he said.
Another environmental engineer attached to municipal corporation Nayana said that there were a total of 36 such houses in the twin cities.
“There are 20 houses of persons home quarantined in Hubballi and 16 in Dharwad. All necessary help is being extended to the agency concerned,” she said.
Control room
Meanwhile, Hubballi Rural taluk administration has set up a control room with Ph: 0836-2233844 for helping the general public in getting information related to combating COVID-19 pandemic. The control room will work round the clock, Tahsildar Prakash Nasi has said in a release.
