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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.

India’s Bio-Waste Rulebook: Who’s Responsible and What’s at Stake

The moment biomedical waste leaves the source, it must be traceable, accountable, and safely handled.

In last week’s article, we examined the core responsibilities of the Occupier under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, ranging from safe storage and segregation to training and reporting. This week, we continue with further critical obligations, including labelling, timely coordination with waste operators, and internal monitoring systems. We also introduce the Operator's role—the entity responsible for managing common treatment and disposal facilities. Together, the Occupier and Operator form the backbone of safe biomedical waste management in India. Let’s take a closer look at how their duties complement each other in protecting public health and the environment.


We begin with additional key responsibilities of the Occupier, continuing from last week’s discussion, before outlining the critical duties of the Operator—the authorised entity managing treatment and disposal.


9. The Occupier must ensure that all colour-coded bags specifically provided for the collection and storage of only biomedical waste are properly labelled with barcodes. If any such bag is misused by hospital workers knowingly or unknowingly, with the help of a barcode, it can be tracked. This clause in the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016, applies to all hospitals with a capacity of more than 30 beds.


10. The segregated waste, and more specifically the human or animal anatomical and pathological waste, must be picked up by the operator of a common facility for treatment and disposal within a maximum period of 48 hours from the source of generation. If not, the occupier must inform the prescribed authority immediately.


11. The occupier must establish a system to review and monitor biomedical waste management activities. This may be done through an existing committee or by forming a new one. The committee must meet at least once every six months, and the minutes of these meetings must be submitted along with the annual report. In healthcare establishments with fewer than thirty beds, a qualified person should be designated to oversee these activities and submit the annual report accordingly.


(b) Operator: An operator is an authorised person, a company, or an organisation that runs a common biomedical waste treatment and disposal facility. This is the place where the segregated waste from the designated hospitals is collected and brought here for further treatment and disposal.


Duties of the operator can be summarised as follows:


1. Must take all necessary steps to ensure that the biomedical waste collected from the occupier is transported, handled, stored, treated, and disposed of without any adverse effect on human health and the environment, as per the rules and guidelines issued by the Central Government or the Central Pollution Control Board from time to time.


2. Ensure the timely collection of biomedical waste from the occupier as prescribed under these rules. The rules specify that the human and animal anatomical and pathological waste must be collected within 48 hours from the sources of generation. Plastic, metal sharps, and glass waste can be collected once or twice a week in consultation with the Occupier.


3. Must inform the prescribed authority immediately regarding the occupiers who are not handing over the segregated biomedical waste as per these rules.


4. Must provide training to all workers handling biomedical waste at the time of induction and at least once every year. They must also assist the occupier in training staff at the source of waste generation.


5. Conduct medical examinations for all workers handling biomedical waste at induction and at least once a year. Immunise them against diseases such as hepatitis B and tetanus, and maintain proper records.


We’ll continue exploring the remaining responsibilities of the Operator in the next article. Till then, have a good weekend!

(The author is an environmentalist.)

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