Kodungaiyur dumpyard: Permission granted to carry out bio-mining project

CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has obtained administrative permission from the government to carry out the bio-mining project in the Kodungaiyur dump yard.

An estimated cost of Rs 641 crore has been allocated for the project, and work is likely to begin soon.

At least 5,100 metric tonnes (MT) of solid waste are collected every day across the city. Of which, biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste are segregated and sent to the processing centers for recycling. The remaining garbage is dumped at the Perungudi and Kodugaiyur dumping grounds.

However, to maintain Chennai as a clean city, the state government has advised to remove the piled up garbage in these two dump yards and restore the land, stated an official release from GCC.

The dump yard is spread over an area of 343 acres, of which 252 acres have been used to dump waste for the past 40 years.

At least 66.52 lahks MT of solid waste was dumped in the Kodungaiyur dump yard. Now, for the bio-mining project, the waste will be segregated into six bins, and a total of Rs 641 crore has been allocated for the project.

The government has advised strengthening the compost centres and implementing solid waste management rules.

The construction waste should be recycled in a scientific manner. The tender process for the same is expected to commence soon. These works will be carried out by the project monitoring committee, which comprises technical experts from Anna University. The authorities of the civic body stated that the bio-mining work will be completed within two years and the land will be restored.

Similarly, the bio-mining work is being carried out in the Perungudi dump yard at an estimated cost of Rs 354 crore. At least 200 acres of land were used for dumping garbage there, and work is underway to extract the garbage and reclaim the land through the project.

The ambitious waste management project is expected to be completed by December 2023.