According to the periodic report of CPCB of 2019, India, before the coronavirus epidemic, dealt with 619 tonnes of biomedical waste every single day, and on top of that, India dealt with 162 tonnes of covid-19 affiliated BMW in the November of 2020. Also, in the last six months of 2020, India produced tonnes of COVID- 19 affiliated BMW from June to November. This number has increased with more covid- 19 infections and fast- pacing vaccination drives. Hence The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has issued some new guidelines to deal with Covid- 19 affiliated BMW. Likewise, CPCB has also given separate policies for the disposal of Covid- 19 related BMWs from houses and public institutions. 

With the government's aim to inoculate over a 

billion people in a matter of time, the amount of sharp waste produced will be enormous. According to the CSE report, the Covid- 19 vaccination drive in India has generated over 268 million needles and 18 million glass vials, all of which will be considered Covid- 19 affiliated biomedical waste. Also, at the end of the vaccination drive, India will generate over 1.3 billion needles and over 100 million glass 

vials. 

With overflowing BMW, if there is a scarcity of infrastructure,  it can lead to other issues like illegal dumping of BMW, which is extremely dangerous as it can cause

environmental pollution and health hazards. Despite being the capital of India, Delhi has only 2 Common Biomedical Waste Treatment installations( CBWTFs). In light of that, the National Productivity Council( NAP) proposed the installation of two fresh CBWTFs, one of them to be located in the trans- Yamuna belt and the other in either South or Central Delhi. Also, CBWTFs have been installed in states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal. 

To deal with the enormous size of Covid- 19 affiliated BMW, a high-level task team ( HLTT) reviewed the situation across the country. 

Latterly, an online tracking app was developed by CPCB to track covid-19 BMW. The Supreme Court has made it obligatory for all state pollution control boards and municipal corporations to use the 'COVID19BWMAPP' for tracking biomedical waste daily. 

REFERENCES