Activists flag Kodungaiyur waste burn move

Warn incineration of trash will cause severe pollution and environmental degradation in north Chennai

CHENNAI: NGOs and organisations working for the protection of the environment, Poovulagin Nanbargal, Chennai Climate Action Group, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group and Centre for Financial Accountability, have joined hands to raise a campaign titled ‘No-Burn Chennai’ against the proposed waste-to-energy incineration plant in Kodungaiyur waste dumping site.

The green activists have flagged the Greater Chennai Corporation for floating a tender to construct a waste-to-energy plant in Kodungaiyur. Activists oppose the move and warn that incineration of waste will cause severe pollution and environmental degradation in North Chennai.

In an online meeting on Saturday, Geo Damin of Poovulagin Nanbargal said that the corporate world promotes false solutions and blames people for not segregating and recycling their waste. “Plastic cannot be recycled by any means. It is not only non-degradable but also toxic. Waste-to-energy plants are also a part of false solutions,” he said. He added that North Chennai is already polluted heavily, and the incineration plant will exacerbate the problem further. “We should move towards a need-based economy from a profit-based economy,” he opined.

D Chytenyan of the Centre for Financial Accountability pointed out that Delhi has become one of the most polluted cities in the world as it burns 70 per cent of the total garbage generated. “Everyone is blaming stubble burning as the cause of air pollution in Delhi. But, a study conducted by IIT-Madras in 2022 found chloride in the air generated by garbage burning. Chennai plans a plant with a capacity of 2,100 tonnes. Burning this amount of garbage will emit pollutants equivalent to 10 lakh cars. The plant will generate only 21MW, which is just 0.1 per cent of state demand,” he added.

Afroz, a researcher of Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group, pointed out that the civic body had already constructed an incinerator plant to produce construction material in Chinna Mathur near Manali. Pollutants from the plant affect the people, and ash gets deposited in the nearby Puzhal and Korattur lakes.

Vishwaja Sampath of Chennai Climate Action Group said that setting up a waste-to-energy plant is environmental discrimination against the people of North Chennai, which is already heavily polluted by 34 red-category industries in Manali.

Setting up a waste-to-energy plant is environmental discrimination against the people of north Chennai

— Vishwaja Sampath, Chennai Climate Action Group