Mumbai civic body collects 2.5 tonnes of sanitary and special care waste daily since April under dedicated service

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has collected nearly 25 tonnes of sanitary and special care waste every day since the launch of a dedicated service in AprilIn a press release issued on Thursday the Mumbai civic body said that more than 4000 housing societies womenrsquos hostels beauty parlours educational institutions and other entities have registered for the initiative through a QR quick response codebased selfregistration systemEach ward in Mumbai has been provided with a dedicated vehicle of 06tonne capacity for the collection of sanitary and special care wasteThe city generates between 7000 and 8000 tonnes of solid waste daily of which 70ndash80 tonnes comprises sanitary waste such as used diapers sanitary napkins tampons and incontinence sheets When mixed with household garbage it poses health risks to sanitation workers and contributes to environmental degradation civic officials saidUnder the dedicated service the BMC has also covered waste contaminated with bodily fluids such as cotton gauze and bandages medical waste like syringes and expired medicines beauty parlour disposables as well as animal faeces Such waste is to be placed in designated yellow bags for safe collection and disposalAt present BMC operates 11 plasma incineration plants each with a capacity of four tonnes per day to process this waste The civic body has made it mandatory for bulk waste generators to segregate sanitary and special care waste at the source and hand it over for safe disposalAccording to the Mumbai civic corporation the initiative is aimed at protecting sanitation workers ensuring environmentally sound disposal of hazardous waste and driving behavioural change among citizensBMC also stated that the move will help in reducing the stigma around sanitary waste and strengthen Mumbairsquos overall waste management systemBMC installs bollards on footpaths in Dadar and Matunga to keep motorists awayBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC on Thursday started work on redesigning the existing bollards on the footpaths of Baba Saheb Ambedkar Road near the Dadar and Matunga areas The bollards have been installed to restrict twowheeler motorists from reaching the footpaths and jeopardising pedestrian safetyBMCs work came in response to a letter written to the civic bodys FNorth ward office by the Matunga division of the Mumbai Traffic Police following complaints from residents and subsequent followup by MidDayMidDay on Thursday a reported on the issue highlighting the safety hazards from unauthorised parking on footpaths and racing bikers on the footpaths in this area which has among the widest footpaths in the city close to 4 metres in widthResidents of the area pointed out that since the Elphinstone Bridge has been demolished by the civic body BA Road gets choked not only by traffic going towards the island city but also by motorists commuting from East to West MumbaiThe congestion has augmented the problem of bikers trying to get up on the footpath to cut short their commute time by a few minutes Even though there are no parking boards installed by the civic body along all footpaths in the area MidDay noticed during a spot visit on Tuesday that twowheelers are parked along the footpath near Khodadad Circle and in MatungaThe traffic police had highlighted 18 spots where riders take the footpath instead of the carriageway seeking BMCs intervention in setting up zigzag barricades The work on this infrastructure started on Thursday morning