The State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) appointed by the High Court has declared that the Chennai Corporation’s plans to generate energy and compost from garbage are environmentally unsafe. With that, the civic body’s search of many years to find a solution to the mounting garbage woes of the city has come to naught. It is back to the planning board even as garbage continues to pile up at Perungudi, Pallikaranai and Kodungaiyur.

On behalf of the Corporation, the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) had identified a Mumbai-based organisation to handle the city’s solid wastes. Thirty acres of land were allotted to the company in the Perungudi area where the company planned to produce energy through refuse-driven fuel (RDF) which comprised packing materials, wood, garments and coconut shells. In addition, bio-degradable waste would be segregated and used for generating compost. The company also planned to construct a sanitary landfill on the site. Construction debris, yet another constituent of the city’s garbage, would be used for making eco-friendly pavement blocks. Non-bio-degradable waste was to be segregated and sold in the market. The company would pay the Corporation Rs. 15/tonne of waste. It planned to produce 3 MW of power from the plant.

However, the technology has been suspected by environmentalists from the start. The incineration of such refuse, it was said, would release dioxins, a chemically toxic product into the environment. This would, in effect, be a continuance of what is already going on in these areas, namely the continuous burning of garbage. A recent study has shown a high content of dioxins in human milk tested in the area. The project was awaiting environmental clearance from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority.

The High Court, in response to a public interest litigation filed by the residents of Thoraipakkam, had appointed the SEAC to look into how the Pallikaranai marsh could be reclaimed from its present status as a dump yard. The committee, which looked into the waste management plan, has stated that the proposed waste management facility was environmentally unsound and legally not permissible as the proposed plant is not in line with the Municipal Solid Waste Rules 2000 which says it is illegal to incinerate plastics and wastes. The Court is yet to pronounce its verdict.

While the fate of the plan may be uncertain, what is definite is the necessity to look for a quick solution to the problem of garbage. Environmentalists are of the view that garbage segregation at source is the only answer. This will ensure that bio-degradable wastes are treated separately from non-degradable refuse. Unfortunately, the idea, while good on paper, is yet to take off in practice with a negligible number of households and establishments willing to adopt the practice. The Corporation’s garbage collection contractor, Neel Metal Fanalca, had originally launched a scheme for segregation at source with great fanfare, with some households being given two bins, one for each type of waste. This appears to have petered out midway and, today, all garbage in the localities in which the agency operates, is mixed up and taken away together. In fact, there are bins clearly marked “biodegradable” which contain only non- biodegradable wastes.

With this being the ground reality, it looks like a long way for arriving at a permanent solution to the city’s garbage woes.