Bhubaneswar: Amid reports and study that COVID-19 is transmitted through droplets and aerosols emerging from an infected person, countries like Australia, France and the UK have revealed that it can be found in the drainage and sewage water of cities. The report from a study done in Australia and another one done in Greater Paris, France revealed that the virus was detected in their sewage treatment system. Although there is still no conclusive evidence that the virus can spread from sewage, if it is proved, India has a lot to worry about.
A proper sewage treatment system is still absent in many of our cities. Add to that the open water drainage system and the flooding thereafter and you have a recipe for a disaster ready.
Though the survival of coronavirus in waste water depends on a number of factors including temperature (increasing temperature may kill the virus), light exposure (solar or UltraViolet radiation), organic matter (viruses can adsorb onto particles of organic matter, affecting settling behaviour) and the presence of antagonistic microorganism (increasing the extent of inactivation), its surveillance in waste water is almost none, which can easily help in its transmission.
In Odisha, the small towns and the cities get easily flooded with the onset monsoon. Even one hour of rain floods the roads of the twin cities, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. As the drainage systems are connected in some or the other way and Bhubaneswar and Cuttack hospital areas and their waste do not have a special treatment, it is released into the common drainage system. COVID-19 is said to survive for longer periods here.
During monsoon, increase in temperature and humidity, that is believed to inactivate the virus cannot be factored in. The average temperature drops during this time and uncovered drains can wreak havoc and increase the number of infections.
During the lockdown period, since plying of vehicles is prohibited, more and more people are walking on foot, increasing the chances of getting infected. Both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack neither have a smart sewage system nor a sewage treatment plant. This can overturn the tide towards more infection and prevalence of the virus to other non-contaminated areas and can create havoc among the local population. The need of the hour is to invest in creating better sewage treatment plants.
(The writer is a scientist in Ecosystem Health and Conservation at Bombay Natural History Society. He was also a student of Microbiology at OUAT, Bhubaneswar.)
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