Tackling wastes head on: A Chennai point of view

Residents in north Chennai protest against waste-to-energy plant, highlighting class divide and environmental concerns, impacting waste management in Chennai.

On April 13 this year, a group of residents gathered in north Chennai to discuss the problems arising out of the first waste-to-energy plant. They were stoutly against the plant. T.K. Shanmugham, president of the Federation of North Chennai Residents’ Welfare Associations, says residents posted their views on social media after Re Sustainability, the company implementing the project, claimed it would not pollute the area. “Groups of residents highlighted experts’ opinion that the project pointed to a class divide between north Chennai and south Chennai,” he says.

“A few months ago, after residents protested, the Greater Chennai Corporation shelved the project to develop an eco-park on 93 acres of the Pallikaranai marsh in south Chennai following bio-mining of the dump there. Most residents in north Chennai are labourers. So they don’t have a voice. Since the Assembly election is due in 2026, we hope the government will listen to the views of residents,” Mr. Shanmugham says. In the past few months, the Corporation took measures to achieve zero waste at the dumps, develop scientific landfill, and facilitate projects for establishing a flawless circular economy in Chennai, which has been grappling with issues caused by unscientific dumping of municipal solid waste.

Not surprisingly, this city’s civic issues highlight the challenges faced by other cities in Tamil Nadu, the most urbanised State with around 50% of the population living in urban areas. Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru’s announcement in the Assembly this month on waste management in Chennai is a milestone that is expected to shape scientific waste management. Corporation Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran says the civic body will establish the first waste-to-energy project at Kodungaiyur as part of the integrated waste processing facility. The proposal comprises generating bio-CNG for 550 tonnes per day (TPD), compost plant-1,100 TPD, automated material recovery facilities-1,200 TPD, waste-to-energy plant-1,400 and 700 TPD, and a sanitary landfill-545 TPD. Corporation officials say integrated waste processing facilities will be established at designated locations for processing solid waste collected from Zones 1 to 8 and non-recyclable combustible waste segregated and collected from Zones 9 to 15.

The project will be implemented in the public-private partnership mode and on a design, build, finance, operate, and transfer basis. The contract period is 25 years. The estimated project cost is ₹1,268.38 crore. Administrative approval was granted by the State government in March. Of the two companies, M/s. Delhi MSW Solutions Ltd., a special purpose vehicle of Re Sustainability, was the successful bidder.

A tripartite agreement will be signed among the contractor, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), and the Chennai Corporation. The power tariff will be ₹6.28 a unit all through the concession period. If the tariff increases in the future, the excess amount will be paid by the contractor to the Corporation. If the tariff decreases owing to unforeseen circumstances, the Corporation will compensate the contractor. Apart from the waste sent to the decentralised processing centres, all unsegregated waste remaining in all zones will be sent to this centralised processing facility. However, with protests by residents against waste-to-energy plants looming, it may be hard for the government and the Corporation to press ahead before the election.

There is no denying that the protesting residents represented a genuine populist surge owing to public health issues near the dumps at Kodungaiyur in north Chennai and Perungudi in south Chennai. The protests are hardly new; the demand has been the same: “Shift the dump to the outskirts and restore the marshland for disaster resilience in a flood-prone city.” Residents around the Information Technology Corridor (Rajiv Gandhi Salai), near the Perungudi dump, have been watching the protests against the first waste-to-energy plant at Kodungaiyur. They will oppose any such project at Perungudi, says A. Francis, president of the Federation of Thoraipakkam Residents’ Welfare Associations.

The Corporation will implement revised guidelines for management of waste from building construction and demolition. The new rules, which will come into force on April 21 this year, are aimed at managing the estimated 1,000 metric tonnes of construction debris generated daily. With these rules in force, unauthorised dumping will come down significantly and timely and traceable disposal of construction and demolition waste will increase within two months, says Assistant Commissioner (Health) Jaya Chandra Bhanu Reddy.