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Chennai at the Crossroads 9. Solid Waste |
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Go to previous section (8. Waste Waterways) No discussion of waste matter would be complete without touching upon Chennai’s ever-present mounds of garbage, or “solid waste”. On almost every street, there is an area designated for garbage. Often however, the garbage is strewn not only inside, but on both sides of the bin, as if the residents had really poor aim. It is strewn democratically over several square feet, spreading its odour with maximum effect for the benefit of passers-by. On my most recent trip, it struck me that this problem, which had always bothered me in years past, continued to plague many parts of the city espite the city’s obvious prosperity. While a few streets had cleaned up their act, and the authorities were making a significant effort, there was still plenty of open garbage strewn on many streets. The news at the street level, however, is not all bad. In fact, some progress has recently been made in improving this situation, as I will discuss first. The Good News
Another reform, introduced in Chennai in late 2004, is the separation of recyclables, thus reducing the contamination of organic waste with plastics and other non-bio-degradable materials. The regulation was introduced partly in response to the mandate from an Indian Supreme Court-constituted panel. However, based on my personal observations of how Chennai’s citizens treat their streets, and the lack of any obvious recycling bins in most places, it is doubtful what the degree of compliance with this regulation has been so far. Most recently, I learned that the problem of open bins is destined to become a memory, if current city plans come to fruition. As recently as August 2, 2007, closed garbage trucks and bins were first inaugurated (photo) , with plans to acquire 80 such trucks. Garbage compact and garbage processing at the two dumps is planned as part of the overall waste management solution. Perhaps most interesting is the human element. A number of innovative local collection solutions offer some hope that the unsightly strewing of waste will become a thing of the past. For example, in some zones, tricycles with garbage bins have replaced the previous fixed bins, facilitating the movement of garbage. In the same vein, local street people have been officially deputized to be in charge of garbage collection and now get paid for it. Moving the Mountain I am encouraged that a number of measures have begun to alleviate the problem at its most visible level. But what seems entirely unresolved and getting worse, is the problem of what happens to all the garbage after it is collected. This issue is well-documented and truly alarming, but probably mostly unknown to the city’s residents. Here are the unvarnished facts. In fact, Chennai’s solid waste, of which the city produces 3.5 million Kilos every single day, is literally overflowing. Most of this waste is dumped in two locations – Kodungayur and Perungudi. These dumping grounds have been used for the last two decades and there are serious problems with both of them, according to the municipal government itself. Indeed, as is well documented in several studies, neither the choice of these locations nor the manner of their use has been at all salubrious for the city’s inhabitants. Both sites are located in densely populated areas only about 10 km from central Chennai, posing a health hazard to nearby inhabitants. Independent sampling of the air quality near the dumping grounds has demonstrated levels of several toxins well in excess of international standards for residential zones. VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) such as Carbon Disulphide, Acetone, and Toluene found in these areas are harmful to human health and have been demonstrated to have numerous harmful health effects, affecting major organs and/or the cardiovascular, respiratory, nervous and reproductive systems. Perhaps most urgently, nearly 200 acres of the 250 acres allotted at Kondungaiyur and nearly 250 acres of the 350 acres available at Perungudi are now used up. This will force an end to their use and Chennai will need to hunt for a new solution very soon, long before the planned closure of these facilities in 2015. Kondungayur and Perungudi grounds are both located in low-lying areas that are poorly drained and inundated by water during the rainy season. The consequent leaching of toxins into groundwater threatens the health and usability of the surrounding areas. Perungudi (see photo) occupies a part of Pallikaranai swamp (officially 55 acres, but in reality, 250 acres out of 618 acres). The Kodungayur dump is also located on a low-lying marshland. Both areas are ecologically sensitive and are (or were) home to many ecologically sensitive bird, animal and plant species. Today, Pallikaranai swamp, which was a 50 sq km natural marshland just 30 years ago, has shrunk to 10% of its original size due to encroachment, urbanization, and dumping of garbage since 1985. Since both areas are natural marshlands, their appropriation for building and garbage dumping prevents drainage of water from the nearby areas of Madipakkam, Taramani, and Velachery. Recall that Velachery is the area we had mentioned earlier in which Gopalan is building his house, and is near Chennai’s major IT park. Now lacking drainage, these areas nowadays flood regularly every rainy season. I was personally a witness to this during my years in IIT Madras, which is also nearby, but never understood the phenomenon. Thus does runaway development lead to indiscriminate waste generation, in turn endangering the development itself, and completing this circle of irony. Go to next section (10. Government, Good and Bad) |
Yet not all is gloom and doom. I have been made aware of
numerous strenuous efforts by the authorities to keep the streets of Chennai
cleaner, although these have not borne fruit to the same extent as, say