A national study comparing states’biomedical wastegeneration duringCovid-19reveals that Gujarat generated the third largest quantity of biomedical waste in 2020. However, it was also among the states that recorded the sharpest falls in 2021 – 71%, according to the data based on thecentral pollution control board’s (CPCB) reports.
According to the study, ‘An investigation of bio-medical waste produced in India during Covid-19 pandemic and Maharashtra state (pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19) analysis: a GIS-based approach’, published inResearch and Health Services& Regions journal indicated that mean biomedical waste generated in tonnes per day was the highest at 25.75 in Maharashtra, followed by 15.72 in Kerala, 14.71 in Gujarat, 13.4 in Nadu and 11.93 in Uttar Pradesh. The number fell to 4 tonnes per day (72.5% drop) year-on-year.
According to the CPCB data, the number of common biomedical waste treatment and disposal facilities (CBWTF) reduced from 20 in September 2020 to eight in August 2022.