THANJAVUR: The bio-mining project at Thanjavur City Municipal Corporation's compost yard, which had set a six-month deadline when it commenced in August 2019, has so far processed around 2 lakh cubic metres of legacy waste of a total of 2.30 lakh cubic metres.
While corporation officials said the remaining waste would be bio-mined by April, it is yet to be seen what would be done with the garbage that has accumulated at the yard over the past few years as they continue to maintain that a survey is being undertaken to assess the new waste to be processed.
While official sources maintained that no more new waste is arriving at the compost yard at Chekkadi as the garbage collected from the 51 wards is being segregated at the 10 micro compost yards, locals residing near the site say a single dumper placer lorry brings in waste in at least 10 trips a day.
When TNIE raised the issue with corporation officials last November, they said that the quantum of the new waste was being measured to bio-mine it. Their response remains the same. Field-level sanitation staff say failure to strictly implement source segregation is causing waste accumulation problems.
"Until the officers impose fines on those households that are not segregating the waste as bio-degradable and non-degradable, the problem of handling mixed waste would linger," one such worker said. Rajan, a resident of a nearby street, said,
"We want the mounds of waste in the yard to be cleared at the earliest to avoid fires and pollution in the area."