CHENNAI: Residents and activists have lost count of the crores of rupees the state government and Greater Chennai Corporation have ‘spent’ on restoring the Pallikaranai marshland.
At least 13,000 crore has gone into tackling the legacy waste challenge in the past three decades, and yet benefits, if any, are nowhere visible.
In 1980, when the area was a quaint town panchayat, the government allotted 75 acres for solid waste management. The corporation in 2011 added another 325 acres for a landfill.
Now, it has about 3.63 million cubic metres of legacy waste lying across 125 acres. The remaining 200 acres is used for waste processing and daily waste dumping. About 2,000 tonnes of wet waste is dumped there daily.
There have been a host of judicial orders, government policy announcements and pleas from residential welfare associations against indiscriminate dumping of solid waste at Pallikaranai marshland, and the Perungudi dumpyard, which is an extension of the marsh. But in vain.
Dumping and burning of garbage at the landfill cause air pollution, especially in summer, and contaminate groundwater in Sai Nagar and Balaji Nagar in Perungudi due to the leachate that enters the ground.
“In September 2002, more than 1,000 residents of Velachery, Taramani, Madipakkam, Puzhuthivakkam and Ullagaram formed a human chain followed by a one-day Satyagraha against the solid waste dumping by Alandur municipality. When about 32MLD of untreated sewage was dumped into the marshland, they again erupted in protest. About 20 years hence, the area is under the corporation and contracts worth more than ?13,000 crore have been awarded to private companies for waste management. But the basic problems of illegal and unsegregated municipal/household solid waste dumping at the Pallikaranai marshland continue,” said Kumaraja, a convenor of Save Pallikarannai Marshland.
“Every year, the civic body claims it will clear legacy waste using bio-mining, set up waste management plants and implement solid waste segregation. But it hasn’t been done till date,” Vimala, another convenor of the Save Pallikaranai Marshland, said.
C N Mahesan, corporation chief engineer (solid waste management) said a composting facility was set up. A construction and demolition waste plant is being set up and will be functional soon, he claimed. Noting that a bio-mining contract was awarded in February 2021, just weeks before the assembly election, he said that in the next three years, at least 125 acres will be converted into a green patch.
“Dry waste is being sold to cement factories. But they want only particular items such as paper, plastic that is not contaminated and recyclers require metals and glass that is not contaminated. For that we are ensuring waste segregation at the source by creating awareness.”
V Srinivasan, a civic activist, said converting the wasteland into a wetland should be done within a time limit. “It is not just the civic body. Waste generated by apartment complexes, IT companies, colleges and shopping complexes ends up in the marshland at night,” he said.
