Crores of rupees spent, but the key dump yards in Chennai remain messy

CHENNAI: Greater Chennai Corporation spends about 600 crore a year to collect and transport 5,000 tonnes of solid waste generated in the city and has lined up another 3,000crore worth of projects to process this waste.
However, the city's key dump yards - Perungudi and Kodungaiyur - continue to get 2,000 tonnes of unsegregated waste daily. With the monsoon coming, residents aroundf Kodungaiyur and Perungudi have urged the civic body to take steps to prevent water stagnation and control mosquito breeding.
Afroz Khan, who lives near the Kodungaiyur dump, said the damage began in the 1980s. "Both dumps were a beautiful nature reserve. My parents tell us stories of how beautiful the area used to be when they were children," he said.
He shot a video recently of how the pollution affected residents, workers and rag pickers at the dump yard. "We had done a study in 2019 and found that about 32% of the residents around the dump have mild respiratory problems, 8.5% have headaches and 7% have skin infections. Others said they also experienced body pain, sleeplessness and eye infection and all this was due to the air and water pollution caused by the dumping of unsegregated waste," he said.
Residents in the area often complain about the stench and air pollution caused in summer due to garbage burning. During winter and monsoon, mosquito breeding is an issue. An IIT- Madras study recently revealed that 50% of the waste dumped in the landfills could be processed.
About 5 lakh residents live around the dump yards. Ganesh Perumal, of Kodungaiyur, said the civic body has been talking about bio-mining and waste processing projects for over a decade. "Unless they implement, we will continue to suffer," he said. Afroz said Chennaiites should segregate waste so that those who live near the dumps do not suffer.
Deputy commissioner Manish Narnaware told TOI that the civic body had commenced the bio-mining project at Perungudi and would reclaim 125 acres within five years. At Kodungaiyur, they required at least 800 crore for the project and are seeking funds.
The civic body is also in talks with Singapore and South Korea governments to set up waste processing plants to generate electricity. "The problem is lack of funds and resident cooperation to implement these projects," said Narnaware.