4,552 disposable facemasks sold everyday in Dmu
The first in-depth assessment of disposable facemasksin the State with special focus on Dimapur “The disposal PPE pandemic: An analysis” was launched at Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) office here on Wednesday.
The research was carried out by Life For Environment (LIFE), an environment NGO based in Dimapur, and launched by DMC administrator Albert Ezung. LIFE founder and chairperson Niksungla informed the gathering that as per the study conducted in Dimapur, 4552 disposable facemasks were sold in a day, which totalled to 1,11,620 masks in a month and 13,33,440 in a year. The weight of the masks sold in a day was 13.6 kg, while the monthly and yearly figures were 335.25 kg and 4,023 kg respectively.
She clarified that the findings of the study, through comprehensive, were an estimation based on available data as factors like non-maintenance of proper day-to-day business record by the sellers, COVID restrictions, limited funds, etc, affected the accuracy of the data estimation.
This pilot study was the first in-depth assessment on disposable facemasks in Nagaland and might also be the first in the country, she added.
The project was approved and sponsored by International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences Forum (IATSS) under its alumni project support grant while PEKKORN international, a social enterprise on waste management, was the implementing agency of the project with LIFE as its partner, she said.
According to her, the objectives of the study were to identify sellers, retailers, wholesalers of disposable facemasks within Dimapur, identify institutions/establishments using them, methods of disposal practised, make an approximation of disposal facemask waste generated and evaluate the mindset of the underprivileged on the usage of disposal facemasks.
Niksungla explained that to obtain the quantum of disposable facemask waste generated, monthly approximation and yearly projections were calculated. A total of 802 sellers and retailers, seven wholesalers, 21 healthcare facilities and 31 educational establishments were identified.
Further, the LIFE chairperson emphasised that it was imperative that the HCFs/DMC set up a captive incinerator for safe disposal of bio-medical waste or a common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility for Dimapur district at the earliest.
Earlier, releasing the report, DMC administrator Albert Ezung congratulated LIFE for coming out with the extensive report and said that prior to the report, LIFE had also come up with solid waste management earlier. He mentioned that DMC has been working closely with the NGO and was confident that work would go a long way in creating awareness and sensitising the people on safe disposal of face masks.
Pointing out that waste was an integral part of modern-day life, he observed that many people did not realise how they generated wastes and how to dispose them off. He called for community participation in waste management.
On safe disposal of facemasks, Ezung said a proposal had been sent to the State government. He mentioned that the government has also asked DMC to identify a suitable place to set up a plant for bio-medical waste management, for which the council was working closely with the health & family welfare department.