COIMBATORE: The air and water quality were very poor in the Vellalore area after the fire accident at the dump yard in the city, according to an RTI reply from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). Though the quality of air returned to normal, water pollution still remains a problem due to the wet waste dumped in the yard.
Last month, a major fire broke out at the Vellalore dumpyard in Coimbatore. Though the City Municipal Corporation (CCMC), district administration, Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service Department, police department, TNPCB, army personnel along local people put out the fire in two days, the smoke erupted from the fire engulfed the skies and the nearby areas for several days. Owing to this, the air quality levels in Coimbatore worsened.
As concerns about air quality were raised from various quatres, TNPCB officials set up five air-quality detection devices in five different locations near the dump yard. The officials also tested water samples lifted from five places in the area and a final report was submitted to the TNPCB head office in Chennai.
Following this, KS Mohan, a social activist and Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee’s Secretary, filed an RTI application seeking the final report and the test results.
“The report revealed high pollution levels in air and water in the Vellalore area due to the fire which broke out in the dumpyard last month. The CCMC’s licence to dump waste in the facility ended in 2019 and they obtained permission to only to dump chicken and other meat wastes in the dump yard. However, the civic body has been illegally dumping other waste in the facility for several years now. TNPCB has mentioned this in their final report,” Mohan told TNIE.
Speaking to TNIE, a TNPCB official said, “Air quality detected in all five locations was worse. As per the TNPCB norm, the PM10 and PM2.5 pollutant concentrations in the air must be below 100 and 60 respectively. But the test revealed that the average was above 120 and 70 respectively in all five places. A minimum of 119 and a maximum of 166 PM10 concentration was recorded.”
Similarly, the groundwater is also polluted heavily in the region due to the dumping of wet waste in the facility. The analysis report of the groundwater samples collected at 14 borewells and open wells in and around the Vellalore dump yard reveals that the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in 13 locations and Chlorides in one location exceeded the permissible limit of the drinking standards (IS 10500: 2012).
The TDS and chloride levels were very high, especially in the borewells and open wells of Mahalingapuram and Konavaikalpalayam villages, sources said. Meanwhile, the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Tuesday was around 94 in Coimbatore.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakar said, “We haven’t received any information regarding the renewal of licence for the Vellalore dump yard from the TNPCB and I will check into it. As far as the garbage in the facility is concerned, we have now received a sanction of about `90 crore for the next phase of the bio-mining project. We will float a tender and start the works after the elections are announced and the MCC is lifted. Also, a new biogas plant with a capacity of processing 250 tonnes of waste will also be set up in the facility to clear the piled-up waste, retrieve the land and restore the environment in the area.”