Biomining in Sembakkam comes to an abrupt end

CHENNAI: The biomining of the Sembakkam dumpyard on the fringe of the lake, seems to have come to an abrupt end. Sources in the Sembakkam Municipality claim that the agency employed, is winding up operations without comprehensively reclaiming the site.

Biomining operations in the 4.5-acre dumpyard began in February this year. Around 35,000 tonnes of trash has been cleared from the site since operations began but plastic waste continues to be buried under the surface.When Express visited the site on Tuesday, it found that under three inches of soil, plastic waste was found in multiple places. This prevents seepage of water into the ground.

“The project cost was increased to Rs 2.13 crore from Rs 1.50 crore to ensure that non-recyclable waste buried under the surface is also removed, on instructions of the PWD,” said a municipality official, conceding no steps have been taken to remove the waste as it is ‘not profitable’.

While Zigma Global Environ Solutions has denied these allegations, it is learnt from other dumpyard reclaimers that plastic waste that has been buried under soil, does have a lower calorific value.“Cement companies which procure trash for their furnaces, demand high calorific values and so this is often left behind at the site,” said a waste management expert.

“We still have a few tonnes of waste left at the site because increase in diesel charges has discouraged cement factories from Chandrapur to receive loads,” said Dharmaraj, Managing Director of Zigma Global Environ Solutions, oblivious to the fact that plastic waste lies hidden under the surface in the Sembakkam site.When contacted, an engineer overseeing the biomining operations for the Sembakkam Municipality, assured that checks would be done before the completion certificate is given.“We will have a team of experts from Anna University review the biomining operations. Only if they are satisfied with the work, we will issue the completion certificate,” he said.