A mattress-making factory busted in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district for using used masks, in place of cotton or other material, to stuff its products.
A case has been filed against the owner of the unit and the police have launched a probe regarding this. Piles of masks were recovered on the premises by the police.
Officials at the police station at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), Jalgaon that is around 400 kilometers northeast of the capital Mumbai, were informed of the alleged racket being carried out at the Maharashtra Mattress Centre.
Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Gawali said, “When the officials visited the premises of the factory in Kusumba village of MIDC, they found a mattress being stuffed with used masks.”
“A case was registered against the factory owner, Amjad Ahmed Mansoori. The police are now probing the involvement of others in the racket,” added Mr. Gawali.
Following the prescribed norms, the police then set the piles of discarded masks on fire as they were lying around the premises which could be dangerous.
In India, the mask production has increased from the 1.5 crore units a day capacity in March 2020 and the pandemic has burdened India’s already stressed waste management system.
According to Central Pollution Control Board data, it generated over 18,000 tonnes of Covid-19 related bio-medical waste between June and September 2020 alone, including gloves and face masks.
With some 1.68 lakh new cases of infection reported yesterday in the highest day spike, India is experiencing a fierce second wave of the pandemic. Whereas, Maharashtra alone reported 63,294 of these, with 349 deaths.
Moreover, it is the sixth consecutive day today when India reported over a lakh of daily cases. Accounting for one in every six infections reported globally each day, the country is currently leading the world in the daily average number of new infections reported in more than two weeks.
