Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGC) has built India's biggest biomedical waste treatment centre at Deonar in Mumbai at an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore. The centre has started functioning from May 6. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) had earlier directed the Mumbai local authorities to establish such a centre for the better management of biomedical waste in the city as per the norms set by the MPCB.

Spread over 4000 metres of land, the facility has the capacity to treat eight to 10 tonnes of biomedical waste per day. There are 30 small and five big vehicles that pick up biomedical wastes from the waste generators from all over Mumbai. MPCB had given authorization to SMS Envoclean Private Limited for collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of biomedical waste. The project is developed and approved by MCGM and MPCB for treatment and disposal of biomedical waste with incineration, autoclave, shredding facilities.

Explaining about the facility, SMS Envoclean, assistant manager, Lakshminarayana said, "This is the complete treatment centre and it has fully automated machinery. Not only the waste is completely treated and disposed but the smoke left out from its chimney is also treated. It leaves out harmless gas."

Before this centre started functioning, the waste was sent to facility at Taloja, which was too far and transportation of the waste from the city to the facility was difficult.

The project cost has reached Rs 10 crore including the cost of vehicles and machinery. "We have planned to get 15 more vehicles if needed. So the project cost may increase," informed Chetan Pora, director, SMS Envoclean.

More than 1000 healthcare establishments have registered with SMS Envoclean. Number of the registration is expected to increase since pollution control board has started taking stringent actions against the violators of norms. It is noticed that people are taking waste handling norms seriously. "Still there are few occupants of establishment, who are neglecting but they also will obey the norms soon," he told Pharmabiz.

After the facility was made functional, announcements were made towards all health care and other establishments generating biomedical waste to register with the facility for waste disposal. Segregation of biomedical waste at source as per biomedical waste handling rules 1998 is necessary to ensure proper treatment and disposal.

In Mumbai, there are around 1,354 private, 293 municipal and 12 government hospitals that generate about 10 tonnes of bio-medical refuse every day. Including the new facility at Deonar, the state has around 18 treatment facilities. Yavatmal, Buldhana, Osmanabad and Hingoli districts in Maharashtra are next on slate to get such facility.