Coimbatore: The city corporation is all set to commence the biomining project, which aims to scientifically dispose of the accumulated solid waste at the Vellalore dump yard, on Monday.
In the first phase, the civic body plans to process 21,000 cubic metre legacy waste.
Two years after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed it to scientifically dispose of 9.5 lakh cubic metre waste accumulated on the 69-acre land, the corporation inaugurated the Rs 60.11 crore project last June. For over a decade, it has been dumping mixed waste – both degradable and non-degradable – at the dump yard, leading to water pollution and fire accidents.
“After contractors installed machinery, the civic body conducted trial run recently to ensure that they were functioning properly,” a source privy to the project said.
Experts from the Anna University inspected the dump yard and identified a piece of land to start the biomining process. “They measured about 21,000 cubic metre legacy waste dumped near an overhead tank for the first phase of the project. The civic body will process that waste from Monday. Once the first phase is completed, the team will visit the yard again and mark the second set of waste to be processed,” the source added.
It will take about 15 minutes to turn a batch of waste into compost. The machine can process up to 2,000 cubic metres of waste in eight hours. During the process, dry waste including plastic and construction debris will be segregated and wet waste will be dried and shredded.
However, K S Mohan, secretary of the Kurichi-Vellore pollution prevention action committee, said the biomining project cannot be effective unless the civic body stops disposing of fresh waste in the yard. “Steps should be taken to operate more micro composting centres across the city,” he said.