‘Restore Kodungaiyur, Perungudi dump yards as wetlands’

CHENNAI: It would shock the millennials to know that the sprawling space of Kodungaiyur dump yard that stinks up the area was a lush green coastal wetland named Pulpannai some 30-35 years ago.

With the bio-mining works in Perungudi dump yard, which was a part of the Pallikaranai Marshland, nearing completion, and residents in the south of the city demanding to leave the reclaimed land as marsh, Kodungaiyur residents also want Pulpannai to be restored to its original state – a wetland.

TD Babu, a marine biologist and a member of the district green committee, confirmed that the land on which the Greater Chennai Corporation has been dumping garbage in Kodungaiyur for decades was indeed a coastal wetland. “Kodungaiyur was not a marshland like Pallikaranai but it was a wetland where water stagnated,” he stated.

NS Ramachandra Rao, president, Ever Vigilant Citizens Welfare Association in Kodungaiyur, said that the Corporation is yet to commence the process of removing legacy waste. “Once the legacy waste is cleared, the civic body should leave the reclaimed land without any waste processing projects so that the it can rejuvenate itself. Kodungaiyur was a habitat of several birds. Now, residents around the landfill are suffering from breathing difficulties,” the octogenarian added.

While sharing his opinion on proposed eco-park on the Perungudi landfill in a public hearing meeting on Monday, Rao urged the civic body to heed to the demand of Perungudi residents who wanted the marshland to be left as marsh and drop the idea of an eco-park project.

It may be noted that the dumping in Kodungaiyur began in the 1980s. Presently, the 252-acre dumping yard has around 66.52 lakh tonnes of legacy solid waste. Around 2,500 tonnes of fresh waste is being taken to the landfill. Bio-mining will be carried out at Rs 650 crore. Perungudi landfill is spread over 225 acres on Pallikaranai marshland and had 30.62 lakh cubic meters of legacy waste before the commencement of bio-mining.

Meanwhile, the Corporation has finalised bids to carry out bio-mining in Kodungaiyur. “Tenders were floated in 6 packages. Two firms have been selected to reclaim the landfill. Once the Council approves the selection, work orders to the selected firms will be issued within a month. Works will commence before the Lok Sabha election announcement,” a civic official said.

When asked about the future usage of Kodungaiyur landfill area after reclamation, the official assured that no concrete structures will be created and land will be left for natural rejuvenation.

The public hearing meeting conducted by the Corporation on Perungudi eco-park was embarrassing for the civic body as none of the participants, who are mostly environmental activists and representatives of residents’ welfare associations, welcomed the eco-park project. All the participants who spoke at the meeting wanted to leave the marshland as it is – a marshland.

“Trees cannot grow in marshland. How can we dig ponds inside a marshland? The project is more human-centric, not nature-centric,” TD Babu said.

Earlier, consultants appointed by the civic body to design the eco-park informed the participants that the eco-park will be created on 93 acres of Perungudi landfill at a Rs 185 crore. The eco-park will have a knowledge centre, toilets, parking and bird watch towers, which will not be constructed using concrete.

The park will also have 6 ponds with water holding capacity of 16.86 crore litres. Of the 93 acres, 62.40% of the land will have a green belt area while ponds will occupy 25.56% of the land. Only 12 will have built an area, as per the detailed project report. The consultants assured that creating the park is part of restoring the marshland as a green belt and ponds will rejuvenate the marsh over 10-15 years.

However, Babu and S Mohan of Environmental Awareness and Protection Association appraised the consultants and civic officials that landfill can be bio-remediated only by using microbes. “Please include ecologists while drafting such proposals,” they said, and urged the civic body to hand over reclaimed land to the forest department and include it under Forest Act.

A Francis, president, Federation of Thoraipakkam Residents Welfare Associations, lamented that several residents around the landfill are affected with several diseases including cancer. “While bio-mining is being carried out on one side to remove legacy waste, around 2,500 tonnes of garbage is being dumped in Perungudi every day. The Corporation should stop doing that,” he urged.

Sample test on ground water collected in a residential area near the landfill revealed that it is unsuitable for drinking. The tested water had 5.5 mg/L of ammoniacal nitrogen against the acceptable limit of 0.5 mg/L. Albuminoid nitrogen was found at 2.8 mg/L against acceptable limit of 0.5 mg/L. Total dissolved solids was at 1,040 mg/L while the limit was 500 mg/L.