Udupi: Volunteers clean Kundapura project, which cleans the beach stretch every Sunday, has made a surprising discovery.
About 10-15% of the waste discharged into the sea near Sea Kodi is medical waste.
Volunteers have completed 104 weeks cleaning the beach and seemed to be no sign of a reduction in the amount of waste.
Every Sunday, about 30 volunteers collect 20 bags of rubbish from a stretch of 100 meters near the mouth.
Plastic waste collected around 10kg and glass waste around 20kg in each bag.
Bharath Bangera, volunteers clean Kundapura project to TOI, “We have collected all kinds of medical waste – of used syringes, drug vials, bottles of IV infusion, medical tubing and so on.
It is 10-15% of what we collect each week.
We have observed a rise in the number of medical wastes collected in the last few days, “he said.
Volunteers suspect that a hospital can throw waste into the river that accumulates in Panchagangavali River, flowing through Kundapur and Gangolli.
“Tracing the source of the waste is a challenge because of the waste accumulated in the river Panchagangavali, meeting five rivers.
Sowparnika, Varaahi, Kedaka, Chakras, and Rivers Kembja join and join the Arabian Sea.
If it is only one river, we could take the campaign to track down the source.
One one of the main reasons the landing of the waste in the oceans is that many local bodies including Panchayats have not put the resource management of solid and liquid solid (SLRM).
many of them have problems with land, vehicles and personnel.
Up to 100% of homes and businesses under The local body’s waste management system, the problem will continue to exist, “said Bharath.
Bins are needed in the recent years, the trash in the street has disappeared and therefore in most of the roads into the city, visible litter.
“We must understand that the waste from the roadside into the river, joining the river and then accumulates in the oceans.
We must note that the sea begins at home.
We need a permanent solution so that the waste is not discharged into the river, and as a first step the trash roadside must restored especially on the road with regular waste collection, “said Bharath.