CHENNAI: Nearly two years after the Chennai Corporation awarded contract for handling construction and demolition (C&D) waste to a Coimbatore-based private firm, work is yet to begin in at least nine of the 15 designated collection points, one for each zone, in Chennai. The tender was finalised in September 2020 for `20 crore.
According to the proposed system, users will have to bring the construction debris to the collection points from where the contractor would transport it to the processing units in Kodungaiyur (for zones 1-8) and Perungudi (zones 9-15). The contractor will also remove waste dumped in public places based on information from corporation engineers of the wards. The system aims to reduce illegal dumping of debris along roads and waterbodies.
However, when TNIE visited the designated site in Ambattur, there was no trace of debris or a marked facility for the purpose. Locals too were unaware of such a facility. They said construction debris is being dumped in Athipattu. Similarly in Velachery, the earmarked site fenced off by asbestos sheets located inside the Velachery crematorium was devoid of any construction waste. The crematorium supervisor told TNIE that no construction waste was brought to the site in the past three months. Interestingly, the fenced site for dumping waste also houses a solitary grave.
In Ramapuram, where there is no marked facility, construction waste is being dumped on Bharathi Salai.
According to TNIE spot check, the private contractor who was awarded the contract for all 15 corporation zones had operational collection points only in a few zones such as Kodambakkam and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar. According to sources, the centres at Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Anna Nagar and Teynampet, too, were operational. Demarcation, maintenance, and systematic collection had not started in the remaining zones.
According to tender documents accessed by TNIE, the contract was awarded to the firm in 2020 in two packages for a period of eight years for a value of `19.6 crore for 15 zones – `9.7 crores for zones 1-8 and `9.9 crores for zones 9-15.
The city corporation, in August 2021, had released the list of the designated debris collection sites. Since then, the corporation had also tightened its grip on illegal dumping of construction waste by collecting over `1.5 crore fine. Corporation commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi has also been reviewing handling of C&D waste from each zone every fortnight. However, due to lack of awareness about the availability of such dumping sites, people are still using Nolambur service road and open grounds in Nerkundram as temporary dumping sites.
When contacted, senior corporation officials told TNIE that work orders were issued only for seven zones. Of this, C&D waste from Velachery is taken directly to the processing unit in Perungudi. “Although the tender was finalised in September 2020, we issued work orders only for certain zones in order to ensure that work is carried out by the contractor as per plan. Although there is work to be done at collection points, even in the other zones we have been handling C&D waste with the corporation’s own vehicles,” said a corporation official.
WEalth from waste
800-900 tonnes/day Estimated C&D generated in the city
15 Designated collection centres
2 Processing units
6 [Functioning collection centres