After Paris visit, GCC plans to go ahead with the Kodungaiyur waste-to-energy plant project

GCC plans to set up a WTE plant in Kodungaiyur despite environmental concerns raised by experts in Hyderabad and Paris.

After a delegation of Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) engineers, led by Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran, visited the Ivry-sur-Seine waste incinerator in Paris recently, the Corporation plans to proceed with its plans to set up a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Kodungaiyur.

“GCC is planning to go ahead with the project in Kodungaiyur. A government order is to be passed soon in the State Finance Department, which is partially funding the project. The file is under review currently,” said an official, who visited the plant.

The proposed plant in Kodungaiyur, estimated to cost ₹1,026.41 crore, would process 2,100 tonnes of waste daily and generate 31 mega watts of power.

Meanwhile, residents have got experts to point out the environmental and health hazards caused by the WTE plants in Hyderabad and Paris — both presented as models that would be followed by Chennai.

‘Flouting rules’

The Federation of North Chennai Residents Welfare Association (FNCRWA) and Chennai-based civil society organisations said the Hyderabad WTE facility operated by the Hyderabad MSW Energy Solutions (ReSustainability Ltd.) has been flouting the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.

Citing information from the Telangana Pollution Control Board (TGPCB), D.K. Chythenyen of the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) said the Hyderabad WTE plant had not conducted mandatory monitoring of hazardous pollutants — such as HCl, HF, CO, cadmium, thallium, mercury, dioxins and furans and total organic carbon — since its commissioning in 2020.