CHENNAI: Environmental organisation Poovulagin Nanbargal has urged the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to withdraw the proposed water-to-energy (WTE) plant at Kodungaiyur, citing a recent study ‘Burning Waste, Warming Cities?’ carried out in Delhi by the People’s Alliance for Waste Accountability
The study, released on Tuesday, highlights how Delhi’s WTE plants, at Okhla, Bawana, Ghazipur, and Tehkhand, are intensifying the urban heat island (UHI) effect by releasing large volumes of greenhouse gases and thermal emissions.
These plants currently burn over 7,250 tonnes of unsegregated municipal solid waste daily, which is 66% of the city’s waste. The incineration of each tonne of solid waste emits around 5,500 million cubic metres of flue gas at 200°C and CO equivalent to emissions from over 30 lakh passenger cars.
The report also noted that additional heat emissions from the municipal solid waste (MSW) storage pit, bottom ash, auxiliary equipment, and surface modifications, along with the dry-cooling systems and air-cooled condensers used by the WTE plants, further intensified localised heating, contributing to UHI.
In Chennai, Poovulagin Nanbargal referred to a 2024 State Planning Commission report, which warned of a 59% rise in night-time temperatures. The report had revealed 3°C rise in UHI intensity in Chennai and Tiruvallur districts due to dense urban development and reduced green cover.