Two city dumpyards continue to cause pollution, despite biomining

Chennai Corporation's Perungudi and Kodungaiyur dumps pollute air, water, and land, with insufficient mitigation measures, councillors report.

The Greater Chennai Corporation’s dumps at Perungudi and Kodungaiyur continue to pollute air, water, and land in their surroundings. The measures to mitigate the impact were insufficient, councillors say. Despite the ongoing biomining, issues such as the biomining firms not meeting the daily targets, the lack of protective lining, and inadequate waste segregation exacerbate the hazards, they told The Hindu.

Chennai generates roughly 5,500 tonnes of waste daily. For roughly 35 years, the waste is processed in the landfills at Perungudi close to the Pallikaranai marsh and at Kodungaiyur. Biomining reduces carbon dioxide emissions every year and will help to produce refuse-derived fuel (RDF) as an alternative to coal in cement factories, officials earlier stated.

Biomining has begun in the Kodungaiyur dump too. Here, the 66.52 lakh tonnes of legacy solid waste has been split into six packages and will be processed at an estimated cost of ₹640.83 crore. The work is expected to be completed over the next two years. Meanwhile, the biomining at the Perungudi dump will be completed by August 31, according to senior officials of the Chennai Corporation.

J.L. Lakshmi, councillor of ward 191, says the Pallikaranai marsh is indirectly affected by the nearby 225.16-acre Perungudi dump. People rely on the Metro Water supply rather than borewells for consumption owing to potential pollution. She adds that air pollution is a constant complaint from families living close by and commuters passing by the dump.

According to a study published in 2005 by Community of Environmental Monitoring, which gathers data on pollution, the air around the Pallikaraai marsh close to the garbage dump has at least 27 toxic chemicals, including the high presence of 3 carcinogenic substances which could cause cancer in children.

However, Tamilarasi Somu, councillor of ward 183, who acknowledges that the water could be polluted, maintains that this may not have been due to the dump. Water, accumulated during the rains, was noted at the Perungudi dump. In April, when fire prevention measures were taken up because of the soaring temperature, the Superintending Engineer (Solid Waste Management) said trenches were cut in the soil adjoining the piles for the drainage of water trickling down after sprinkling.

A senior engineer of the Solid Waste Management Department says this water is filtered in a Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) treatment plant. It is then let into the water in the Pallikaranai marsh. “There is no lining for the three gangways and smaller trenches, where the water flows to the plant, and as of now, there is seepage into the ground which needs to be addressed,” he says. The seepage at Kodungaiyur is allowed to evaporate, he adds. Another engineer says the spread of air particles will come to a halt only when the biomining process is over, likely by the end of August.