Door-to-door garbage collection: Ludhiana MC to collect and dump masks, gloves separately

In view of the rising cases of coronavirus, Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) has directed the garbage collectors to keep the used masks and gloves received from households in separate bags.

Such bags will be dumped at the secondary dumping points from where they will be transported and buried at the main dump site of the MC on Tajpur Road (Jamalpur Awana) by A2Z company.

MC health branch officials said it was possible that if a resident is coronavirus positive, the gloves and masks disposed by him/her could infect the garbage collectors also. Meanwhile, MC commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar has issued directions to the health branch officials, who have initiated training of the garbage collectors across the city. The collectors have been given gloves and masks, and have been directed to spread awareness among the residents for keeping the masks and gloves separately.

One of the health branch officials, requesting anonymity, said, “Though the garbage collectors have been told to collect the gloves and masks separately, no household is complying to the guidelines. If needed, the collectors will have to segregate the masks from the garbage.”

MC chief Brar said, “Masks and gloves come under hazardous waste. In case of the houses of residents who have been quarantined, an alternate system has been put in place and the company lifting bio-medical waste from the city collects garbage from them.”

MASKS, GLOVES AND SANITISERS DISTRIBUTED AMONG OFFICE STAFF

Days after distributing masks, gloves and sanitisers to the field staff, MC on Tuesday started giving away the same to the ministerial staff deployed in its zonal and sub offices. Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “Each and every step is being taken to ensure the safety of MC staff who are working to keep the city safe at this time of crisis.”