Bio-mining work in Coimbatore's Vellalore dump yard to be expedited ahead of NGT hearing

The civic body has been carrying out bio-mining at the Vellalore dump yard under the Coimbatore Smart City Project.
Vellalore dumpyard in Coimbatore. (Express | S Senbagapandiyan)
Vellalore dumpyard in Coimbatore. (Express | S Senbagapandiyan)

COIMBATORE: With the deadline for completing bio-mining works at the Vellalore dump yard in Coimbatore nearing, the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) has planned to deploy additional machinery to clear the legacy waste soon.

On an average, around 900 to 1,100 tonnes of garbage is collected on a daily basis from the 100 wards in five zones of the city and dumped in Vellalore. The civic body has been carrying out bio-mining at the Vellalore dump yard under the Coimbatore Smart City Project.
However, residents of Vellalore and nearby areas complain of foul odour from the dump yard. K S Mohan, secretary of the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee lodged a complaint with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), seeking directions to the civic body to stop dumping unsegregated waste at the dump yard and take necessary steps to restore the ecology of the area.
Mohan told TNIE that the foul odour has not reduced and has been affecting the people a lot, as the civic body has not taken any measures to curb the bad smell emanating from the area.“Observing that around 240 acres of the 400-acre Vellalore dump yard is filled with garbage, the NGT has already directed the civic body to come up with an action plan with a time frame to clear the legacy waste in a short time. Even the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has also informed that the CCMC must stop dumping further wastes in the Vellalore dump yard and clear the existing legacy waste soon. But no action has been taken. The next hearing of the NGT is scheduled on April 26,” he added.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Deputy Commissioner Dr M Sharmila said that the civic body has so far managed to clear around 36 acres out of 60 acres of legacy waste in the dump yard and the remaining wastes will be cleared by June 10, adding that a total of 90 workers have been working at the facility round the clock in three shifts to clear the waste.
“To pace up the bio-mining project work and clear the garbage soon at Vellalore dump yard, we will be installing extra machinery in addition to the three existing machineries which are used to process and clear the waste at the facility. Out of the 1,000 tonnes of garbage collected, only around 550 tonnes of waste are brought to Vellalore. And the remaining are split and sent to the respective processing centres. Currently, we are sending about 15 trucks of non-biodegradable wastes that amount to about 600 tonnes to the cement factories in Ariyalur on a daily basis,” she added.

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