In a fortnight, the city’s bio-medical waste, which was being sent to faraway places like Taloja near Thane and Satara for disposal, will be taken to the new facility at Kailash crematorium. The new machine was installed at the site on Friday.

It’s more than year since an accidental blast at the bio-medical waste treatment facility at the crematorium near Naidu Hospital killed seven of its employees. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) had closed down the facility and the authorities were unable to find an alternative facility.

This resulted in the need for an approximate 1,250 kg of hazardous bio-medical waste to be transported to Chinchwad, Talegaon, Satara and Taloja (140 kms from Thane).

After the accident, Pune Municipal Corporation had cancelled its contract with Sun Enviro Management Private Ltd that ran the disposal plant. Three months ago, Passco Environment Solutions was awarded the contract to upgrade the bio-medical waste facility at the crematorium. The new facility will be functional within a fortnight, said Pradeep Mulay, director, Passco.

“Since January this year we have been picking up waste from hospitals/ clinics in the city. We have three vehicles collecting waste from over 700 hospitals and 1,200 clinics. Four more vehicles will be pressed into service. The work was like building a factory here,” said Mulay who added that the site measuring 2000 sq ft had to be demolished. The project cost was around Rs 2.4 crore.

The new machine can dispose of 150 kg bio-medical waste in an hour. There is an automatic loading device and the machine will ensure that the temperature is maintained at more than 800 degrees (Celsius) to ensure disposal of the waste.

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