Rs 640 cr allocated for biomining project at Kodugaiyur dumpyard

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned an estimated cost of Rs 640 crore for a biomining project at Kodugaiyur dumpyard under the Swacch Bharat Mission 2.0 scheme.

The proposed biomining site at Kodungaiyur dumpyard with an extent of about 342.91 acres is vested with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC).

Out of the 342.91 acres, around 252 acres are covered with legacy waste.

Currently, at least 66.52 lakh Metric tonnes of solid legacy waste are present at the dump ground, which is generated from zones 1 - 8, noted the resolution.

The proposal for reclamation of site through biomining technology has been taken up in compliance with the SWM Rules, 2016. Also, as per the time bound directions of the NGT, by which 252.00 acres of land will be reclaimed.

Recently, the GCC conducted a committee meeting, and the committee deliberated on the biomining process in detail, such as the methodology that has to be followed during excavation, screening, storage, during biomining operation, along with safe disposal of biomined products and cost estimation for the same, added the resolution.

The team recommended the proposal which works out to an average biomining cost of Rs.963.29 per metric tonne for implementation with due procedures, vide minutes of the expert committee meeting on October 31.

Further, the project proposal was placed in the fourth state level technical committee on November 8. The committee approved the quantity of the legacy waste and estimated biomining project cost of Rs 640 crore at the rate of Rs 963 per metric tonne.

The project will be executed through PMC (Anna University) for overall supervision, monitoring and certification of various activities to be carried out by the contractor, including verification and certification of payment invoices.

The civic body authorities have already implemented the biomining project at Perungudi dump site in order to reclaim 200 acres of land in the dump site.