Kundapur beach weekly clean-up drive throws up 10-15% biomedical waste
Udupi: The volunteers of Clean Kundapura Project, who clean the beach stretch every Sunday, have made a shocking discovery. About 10-15 % of the waste dumped into the ocean near Kodi sea walk is medical waste.
The volunteers have completed 104 weeks of beach clean-up and there seems to be no signs of reduction in the quantity of waste. Every Sunday, about 30 volunteers collect 20 bags of trash from a 100 meter stretch near the estuary. The plastic waste collected is about 10kg and glass waste is about 20kg in each bag.
Bharath Bangera, volunteer, Clean Kundapura Project told TOI, “We have been collecting all kinds of medical waste — used syringes, medicine bottles, IV infusion bottles, medical tubing and so on. This constitutes 10-15% of what that we collect every week. We have been observing a rise in the quantity of medical waste collected in recent days,” he said.
The volunteers suspect that a hospital may be dumping its waste into a river that is getting accumulated at Panchagangavali river, flowing through Kundapur and Gangolli.
“Tracing the source of the waste is a challenge because waste gets accumulated at Panchagangavali river, a confluence of five rivers. The Sowparnika, Varahi, Kedaka, Chakra and Kubja rivers join and merge with the Arabian sea. If it was just a single river, we could have taken up a campaign to trace the source. One of the main reasons for waste landing in the oceans is that many local bodies including panchayats have not yet put in place a robust solid and liquid resource management (SLRM). Many of them have issues with land, vehicles and labour. Until 100% of the houses and business establishments are brought under the waste management system of the local bodies, the problem will continue to exist,” explained Bharath.
Trash bins necessary
In recent years, the garbage bins on the road have disappeared and hence on most roads leading to the city, trash is visible. “We must understand that waste from the roadside goes into a stream, joins a river and then gets accumulated in the ocean. We must note that the sea starts at home. We need permanent solutions so that the waste is not disposed of into the river and as a first step the roadside bins must be restored especially on highways with regular waste collection,” said Bharath.
The volunteers have completed 104 weeks of beach clean-up and there seems to be no signs of reduction in the quantity of waste. Every Sunday, about 30 volunteers collect 20 bags of trash from a 100 meter stretch near the estuary. The plastic waste collected is about 10kg and glass waste is about 20kg in each bag.
Bharath Bangera, volunteer, Clean Kundapura Project told TOI, “We have been collecting all kinds of medical waste — used syringes, medicine bottles, IV infusion bottles, medical tubing and so on. This constitutes 10-15% of what that we collect every week. We have been observing a rise in the quantity of medical waste collected in recent days,” he said.
The volunteers suspect that a hospital may be dumping its waste into a river that is getting accumulated at Panchagangavali river, flowing through Kundapur and Gangolli.
“Tracing the source of the waste is a challenge because waste gets accumulated at Panchagangavali river, a confluence of five rivers. The Sowparnika, Varahi, Kedaka, Chakra and Kubja rivers join and merge with the Arabian sea. If it was just a single river, we could have taken up a campaign to trace the source. One of the main reasons for waste landing in the oceans is that many local bodies including panchayats have not yet put in place a robust solid and liquid resource management (SLRM). Many of them have issues with land, vehicles and labour. Until 100% of the houses and business establishments are brought under the waste management system of the local bodies, the problem will continue to exist,” explained Bharath.
Trash bins necessary
In recent years, the garbage bins on the road have disappeared and hence on most roads leading to the city, trash is visible. “We must understand that waste from the roadside goes into a stream, joins a river and then gets accumulated in the ocean. We must note that the sea starts at home. We need permanent solutions so that the waste is not disposed of into the river and as a first step the roadside bins must be restored especially on highways with regular waste collection,” said Bharath.
