CHENNAI: As the burning Perungudi landfill continued to spew out toxic fumes for a second day on Thursday, the Chennai Corporation is mustering resources to douse the fire, which is now raging on eight acres. Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the civic body to clear the landfill, located inside the Pallikaranai marshland, or stop the daily waste dumping there.
The blanket of thick smoke seen over Velachery on Thursday afternoon was enough to guess what the residents are going through. S Venkatesh, a resident of Ram Nagar, said the smoke is nauseating. Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the fire would be contained within the site and won’t affect nearby areas.
A special team, comprising four chief engineers and two deputy commissioners, has been formed to extinguish the fire. The corporation has cordoned off the burning site with a trench. Also, any accidental spraying of water on the high tension lines passing overhead will worsen the situation.
After inspecting the site, Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru said 300 staff from the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board and fire and rescue services are working from Wednesday afternoon to douse the fire.
“To prevent any health issues to residents, medical camps have been set up in Velachery, Madipakkam, Perungudi, and Taramani,” he said. Twelve fire tenders, two skylift engines, and 120 tankers from Chennai metro water have been deployed to the spot.
A Udhayan, Chairman of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, told TNIE that an ambient air quality survey was being carried out in the vicinity of the marshland using five High Volume samplers.
Fire dampener for marsh’s Ramsar hopes?
The High Volume samplers are stationed on Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board premises (north-east) at Perungudi, STP area of CMWSSB premises at Perungudi (east), Ganapathi Nagar (north), and Velachery Railway Station (north-west).
“Moreover, a mobile Continuous Ambient Air Quality Station (CAAQS) has been stationed at Wind Energy Research Station at Pallikaranai in western direction. Results of the CAAQS at Perungudi village could not be taken into account as it’s located in the upwind direction. Sampling will be carried out every eight hours. Results would be analysed after that,” the official said.
‘Biomining to be speeded up’
Environment Minister Siva V Meyyanathan told TNIE that the biomining of legacy waste in the landfill will be fasttracked and the government is considering to rope in more agencies. “We are serious about clearing all the major landfills located in residential areas. Perungudi and Kodungaiyur landfills are poisoning both air and water. Studies show these can contaminate even mother’s milk,” the minister said. He said the landfill will be cleared soon and forested.
The tender to biomine and reclaim 94.42 acres at the landfill was awarded to Zigma Global Environ. Perungudi landfill is divided into six reclamation packages, of which three, four, and five are being handled by Zigma. The company will undertake biomining on 35.5 acres in the third block, 22.3 acres in the fourth, and 36.56 acres in the fifth.
Daily waste dumped at the landfill, sprawling 225 acres, comes around 2,400-2,600 tonnes. An official of Zigma Global Environ told TNIE that they are segregating and processing 5,000 cubic metres of legacy waste a day. It’s on course to achieve the targets set by the corporation.
Ramsar recognition
On March 9, Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority wrote to the Corporation commissioner to stop dumping solid municipal waste in the landfill. Deepak Srivastava, member secretary of the wetland authority, told TNIE that instances like the fire may derail the government’s efforts to get Ramsar Convention recognition to Pallikaranai marshland.
In the letter to the commissioner, he said dumping of solid and hazardous waste in the marshland is a contempt of HC orders. Meanwhile, Chennai district forest officer V Priyadarshini told TNIE that there was no report of any bird death due to the fire. “Since the migratory season is over, there are not many birds or nests in the marshland. The fire hasn’t affected the bird population.”
Pollution levels high
The 8-hour average pollution levels recorded at 6 am on Thursday was 148 micrograms per cubic meter (g/m3) for PM10 and 75 g/m3 for PM2.5. Permissible limit for PM10 is 100 g/m3, and for PM2.5 is 60 g/m3