Chennai: ‘Chitlapakkam’s Himalayas’ to crumble, finally

CHENNAI: Biomining of the Chitlapakkam dumpyard is expected to begin in a few weeks, with a Rs 20-lakh tender being awarded on February 21 to a private company. The dumpyard nicknamed ‘Chitlapakkam’s Himalayas’ borders the Chitlapakkam lake and has been a talking point of environmental activists and residents for the past decade.

Express reported in October 2017 on how the Chitlapakkam town panchayat dumps waste on the 0.63-acre site bordering the lake despite the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board not giving clearances. The biomining of the Chitlapakkam lake comes after biomining operations began along the nearby Sembakkam lake earlier this month.

Biomining recycles metals and plastics while converting combustibles into refuse-driven fuel, which can be used to power cement-making operations. Biomining aims at cleansing the site of defunct dumpsites.
According to Chitlapakkam panchayat officials, the private company will transport the waste accumulated over the years to its biomining facility at Erumaiyur, a village near Sriperumbudur. “This is something we have been patiently awaiting for a long time and finally our cries for help have been answered,” said P Viswanathan, president of the Chitlapakkam Residents Welfare Association.

But there are questions about what will happen to waste being generated currently. While the accumulated waste will be biomined, it is unclear how Chitlapakkam panchayat will handle newly-generated waste.
Officials of the Directorate of Town Panchayats say that Chitlapakkam will have to “locally manage” the 15 tonnes of waste generated every day as the Keerapakkam waste management facility, planned to accommodate the solid waste of town panchayats near Chennai, is yet to be commissioned.

“The Keerapakkam facility is caught in a legal tangle after locals petitioned the National Green Tribunal,” said a senior official in the Directorate of Town Panchayats. “Chitlapakkam panchayat has been segregating the waste collected and will have to look for decentralised composting options and sell its non-biodegradable waste,” he told Express.

The executive officer of the Chitlapakkam town panchayat was not available for comment when Express tried to reach out to him regarding how the new methods suggested by Directorate of Town Panchayats would be implemented.

Residents also raised concerns over lack of lorries to transport waste from Chitlapakkam to Keerapakkam, a village 70 km from the city, even if the issues with the locals are resolved in the coming days.
However officials in the Directorate of Town Panchayats assured Express that arrangements would be made for exclusive lorries for the town panchayat if the civic body approached them for funds.

biomining ideal solution to tackle landfills

Segregating waste is the first step of biomining. Then comes the process of stabilisation, in which bio-culture — basically bacteria — is sprayed on segregated waste. This not only breaks down materials in the landfill, but also frees it of dangerous and obnoxious gases

Inorganic waste is then classified into recyclable and reusable. For example, plastic and tyres are considered recyclable. Other materials are delivered to cement factories, where they are simply burnt at very high temperatures along with coal, reducing pollution