will have its first meeting on October 12, to work out a comprehensive plan for installation and commission of such a facility at the earliest.
The Expert Committee headed by Goa State Pollution Control Board chairman Jose Manuel Noronha, has been entrusted with the task of overseeing and monitoring the setting up of the facility in terms of Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1998 and as per guidelines issued by the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests (MoEF). The Committee has to also undertake the Environment Impact Assessment study of the facility.
Noronha said the committee would decide on inviting expressions of interest for setting up of the facility in the State. The facility has to be centrally located.
Goa Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has been directed to identify and finalize 10,000 sq mts of land in an industrial estate (mostly in Verna) for the CBMWTF.
As per the Bio-medical Waste Rules, one CBMWTF has to be installed where the hospital bed capacity is up to 10,000. However, in Goa the bed capacity of the hospital is nearly 5,000.
“In such case, Goa can have only one facility. We want to expedite the process,” he said. The facility will have treatment facilities like incineration, autoclaving, or microwaving, chemical disinfection, shredder, effluent treatment plant, washing and others.
In Goa, each bed generates on an average 250 gms of waste per day. The bio-medical waste generated in the State is around two tonnes per day.
