How safe is medical waste management in the urban agglomeration of Shillon?

Bijay S. Mipun, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU)
Subrata Purkayastha, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU)

With rapid urbanization in developing world the cities are experiencing excessive population growth and the local governments are unable to provide basic needs for their citizens including waste disposal and management. Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, situated in the North-East India faces similar problems due to haphazard manner of growth. Unplanned location and growth of health institutions add to the problems of waste disposal and management. Many of these institutions are disposing their infected wastes without treatment. Unscientific discharge of untreated waste and chemical discharge into the sewage and streams leads to severe contamination of water. Contamination of these primary order streams at source leads to serious problems for the people living in the downstream areas. It is in this context that the present paper attempts to analyse the present disposal of bio-medical wastes into the streams of Shillong and its effects on the general water quality of these streams.