CHENNAI: Municipal Administration minister KN Nehru on Wednesday flagged off the bio-mining works at Perungudi dumpyard to remove around 5.5 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste under the Swachh Bharat 2.0 project at a cost of Rs 53.6 crore.
The city corporation had taken up the biomining work at the 225-acre dumpyard in 2022 at a cost of Rs 350.65 crore through six packages with an aim to clear around 29.28 lakh cubic metres of legacy waste.
As of February 28, a total of 29.20 lakh cubic metres of waste have been removed, reclaiming nearly 94 acres.
Now the works initiated under 3, 4 and 5 packages have been completed, and that under package 6 is nearing completion, the minister said. All the works are expected to be completed by March end, a release said.
Nehru said though the works under packages 1 and 2 have already been completed, it was found through a drone survey that 5.5 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste still exist. It has been decided to clear these waste under the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 at a total cost of Rs 51.26 crore.
The deadline for completing the works is 9 months. If these 5.5 lakh metric tonne waste is removed, an additional area of 78 acres will be reclaimed through package 1 and 2, the minister added.