The police cracked down on a factory in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district on 12 April for allegedly using discarded masks instead of cotton or other permitted materials to manufacture mattresses.
As a precautionary measure, police has set fire to the piles of discarded masks which they recovered lying around the factory premises.
According to a report by NDTV, a case has been filed against the owner of the factory and a probe has been launched.
This action has been taken after police officials received a tip-off that the racket was being carried out at the Maharashtra Mattress Centre, located in Jalgaon, 400 kilometres northeast of Mumbai.
Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Gawali said that the officials visited the premises of the factory in Kusumba village of MIDC, where 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,” said Gawali.
Amid the spike in COVID cases, Indian government made it compulsory for all its citizens to wear a mask. India currently has 100 mask manufacturing units.
Chemical and Fertiliser and Shipping Minister Mansukh Lal Mandaviya informed in Rajya Sabha on 20 March 2021 that every day 1.5 crore masks are currently being manufactured is in the country.
Meanwhile, India generated 18,000 tonnes of COVID-19-related bio-medical waste between June and September 2020 alone, including gloves and face masks, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.
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