CHENNAI: Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru on Friday told the Assembly that to avoid dumping of waste at a particular spot, the State government is examining the possibility of generating power from waste and extracting methane.
Officials from the department and Chennai Corporation visited Hyderabad recently to study techniques of power generation and methane extraction. “Power generation using non-degradable waste would begin at three places in the state soon,” the minister said while responding to questions about fire at Perungudi landfill. Following the fire accident, precautionary steps are being taken in all town panchayats and municipal corporations, he said.
Nehru also explained that not only Chennai, but all towns in the State are facing the problem of solid waste disposal. When town panchayats choose outskirts for dumping waste, the villagers oppose it. So, private lands are being used to dump waste and they are being recycled. GK Mani (PMK), Arvind Ramesh (DMK), T Velmurugan (TVK), K Selvaperunthagai (Congress), SS Balaji (VCK) and SP Velumani (AIADMK) also spoke on the issue.