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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Shinde dilutes demand

Likely to be content with Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai Mumbai: In a decisive shift that redraws the power dynamics of Maharashtra’s urban politics, the standoff over the prestigious Mumbai Mayor’s post has ended with a strategic compromise. Following days of resort politics and intense backroom negotiations, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has reportedly diluted its demand for the top job in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), settling instead for the Deputy Mayor’s post. This...

Shinde dilutes demand

Likely to be content with Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai Mumbai: In a decisive shift that redraws the power dynamics of Maharashtra’s urban politics, the standoff over the prestigious Mumbai Mayor’s post has ended with a strategic compromise. Following days of resort politics and intense backroom negotiations, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has reportedly diluted its demand for the top job in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), settling instead for the Deputy Mayor’s post. This development, confirmed by high-ranking party insiders, follows the realization that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) effectively ceded its claims on the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to protect the alliance, facilitating a “Mumbai for BJP, Kalyan for Shinde” power-sharing formula. The compromise marks a complete role reversal between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Both the political parties were in alliance with each other for over 25 years before 2017 civic polls. Back then the BJP used to get the post of Deputy Mayor while the Shiv Sena always enjoyed the mayor’s position. In 2017 a surging BJP (82 seats) had paused its aggression to support the undivided Shiv Sena (84 seats), preferring to be out of power in the Corporation to keep the saffron alliance intact. Today, the numbers dictate a different reality. In the recently concluded elections BJP emerged as the single largest party in Mumbai with 89 seats, while the Shinde faction secured 29. Although the Shinde faction acted as the “kingmaker”—pushing the alliance past the majority mark of 114—the sheer numerical gap made their claim to the mayor’s post untenable in the long run. KDMC Factor The catalyst for this truce lies 40 kilometers north of Mumbai in Kalyan-Dombivali, a region considered the impregnable fortress of Eknath Shinde and his son, MP Shrikant Shinde. While the BJP performed exceptionally well in KDMC, winning 50 seats compared to the Shinde faction’s 53, the lotter for the reservation of mayor’s post in KDMC turned the tables decisively in favor of Shiv Sena there. In the lottery, the KDMC mayor’ post went to be reserved for the Scheduled Tribe candidate. The BJP doesn’t have any such candidate among elected corporatros in KDMC. This cleared the way for Shiv Sena. Also, the Shiv Sena tied hands with the MNS in the corporation effectively weakening the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s alliance with them. Party insiders suggest that once it became clear the BJP would not pursue the KDMC Mayor’s chair—effectively acknowledging it as Shinde’s fiefdom—he agreed to scale down his demands in the capital. “We have practically no hope of installing a BJP Mayor in Kalyan-Dombivali without shattering the alliance locally,” a Mumbai BJP secretary admitted and added, “Letting the KDMC become Shinde’s home turf is the price for securing the Mumbai Mayor’s bungalow for a BJP corporator for the first time in history.” The formal elections for the Mayoral posts are scheduled for later this month. While the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA)—led by the Shiv Sena (UBT)—has vowed to field candidates, the arithmetic heavily favors the ruling alliance. For Eknath Shinde, accepting the Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai is a tactical retreat. It allows him to consolidate his power in the MMR belt (Thane and Kalyan) while remaining a partner in Mumbai’s governance. For the BJP, this is a crowning moment; after playing second fiddle in the BMC for decades, they are poised to finally install their own “First Citizen” of Mumbai.

How Colour Codes Help Hospitals Segregate Waste

Proper segregation at the point of generation is the key to successful biomedical waste management.

Through my previous articles, I have presented a brief review of various legal provisions for managing waste generated in healthcare establishments across the country. Let us now explore the actual ‘on-site’ activities that are carried out at the sources of generation and the common facilities for treatment and disposal of the hospital waste. There are four major activities related to the management of this waste. These are segregation, transportation, treatment, and disposal.


1.Segregation: It is always said that proper segregation of waste right at the source of its generation is the key to the success of a waste management programme. The same applies to biomedical waste also. As per the rules, every occupier must ensure that the four categories of waste generated are properly segregated. For this, four different coloured non-chlorinated plastic bags or containers are mandatory. These are as follows:


A) Yellow Bag: As per the 2016 rules, the yellow-coloured bags are to be strictly used for the collection and temporary storage of highly infectious and hazardous waste, which are as follows:


i) Human Anatomical Waste: Human tissues, organs, body parts, and foetuses below the viability period (as per the Medical Termination of

Pregnancy Act 1971, amended from time to time).


ii) Animal Anatomical Waste: Experimental animal carcasses, body parts, organs, and tissues, including the waste generated from animals used in experiments or testing in veterinary hospitals or colleges, or animal houses.


iii) Soiled Waste: Items contaminated with blood or body fluids, like dressings, plaster casts, cotton swabs, and bags containing residual or discarded blood and blood components.


iv) Discarded or Expired Medicines: Pharmaceutical waste like antibiotics and cytotoxic drugs, including all items contaminated with cytotoxic drugs, along with glass or plastic ampoules, vials, etc.


v) Chemical Waste: Chemicals used in the production of biologicals, and used or discarded disinfectants


vi) Chemical Liquid Waste: Liquid waste generated due to the use of chemicals in the production of biologicals and used or discarded disinfectants, silver X-ray film developing liquid, discarded formalin, infected secretions, aspirated body fluids, liquid from laboratories and floor washings, cleaning, housekeeping, disinfecting activities, etc.


vii) Discarded linen, mattresses, and bedding contaminated with blood or body fluid, as well as routine masks and gowns.


viii) Microbiology, Biotechnology, and other clinical laboratory waste (pre-treated): These include blood bags, laboratory cultures, stocks or specimens of microorganisms, live or attenuated vaccines, human and animal cell cultures used in research. Additionally, you have industrial laboratories, the production of biological residual toxins, dishes, and devices used for cultures.


B) Red Bag: Wastes generated from disposable medical items include tubing, bottles, intravenous tubes and sets, catheters, urine bags, and syringes without needles. This category also includes fixed needle syringes with their needles cut, gloves, and vacutainers, the small, sterile tubes used to collect blood samples for laboratory testing.


C) White Bag: Waste Sharps, including metals, needles, syringes with fixed needles, needles from needle tip cutters or burners, scalpels, blades, or any other contaminated sharp object that may cause punctures and cuts. This includes used, discarded, and contaminated metal sharps. Preferably, white, translucent, puncture-proof, leak-proof, tamper-proof containers should be used instead of plastic bags.


D) Blue box: Puncture-proof, leak-proof boxes or containers with blue coloured markings are to be used for broken or discarded and contaminated glass, including medicine vials and ampoules, except those contaminated with cytotoxic waste.


More information on this is in my next article. Until then, have a nice weekend!


(The writer is an environmentalist.)

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