PERAMBALUR: With the biomining project at Neduvasal dump yard in the district having overshot its deadline by around three years, locals seek its immediate completion and steps to ensure no further pile-up of waste there.
In 2019, the Perambalur Municipality awarded the Rs 3.18-crore biomining contract to OurLand Engineering Works Private Limited to clear the dump yard within a year. According to sources, the firm was mandated to clear via biomining 48,384 cubic metres of municipal solid waste from the dump yard, and reclaim over 3.1 acres of land used for dumping garbage collected from different parts of the town
over the past six years. Biomining is the treatment of waste material with microbial activity.
While authorities claim that over 99% of the solid waste has been cleared in the past three years, the incessant rains last year washed away a portion of the garbage at the dump into the Marudaiyaru through the river’s canal in Neduvasal. This has raised concerns among locals who demand that the biomining project be completed soon.
Neduvasal resident L Aravinth said, "We suffer many problems from garbage dumping here. We expected the biomining project to be completed by 2021 but due to various reasons, there has been a continuous delay.”
Observing that the project, however, is now nearing completion, he added that the authorities must expedite waste clearance and clean up the place. They need to take action to stop dumping of waste here again, he also said. S Ragavan, an activist, pointing to how waste from the dump yard got washed away in
last year's rains and polluted the canal, demanded authorities to clean the waterway, too.
"Even though the municipality is clearing the dump, we can still see fresh waste piled up on roads in many places. The municipality should clear it and collect garbage from the public properly. They should also monitor the sale of 14 types of banned plastic products and its production should be banned," he
added.
When contacted, Perambalur Municipal Commissioner S Kumari Mannan told TNIE, "Currently, there is only one percent of waste remaining to be cleared in the dump yard. We will complete the biomining project within a week and set a good plan to green this place."