The solution to the city's garbage problem may come all the way from Shanghai with a team of Chennai Corporation officials visiting China this week.
The nine-day mission to hunt for suitable technology will cover visit to solid waste management facilities of cities in China with focus on technology adopted in Shanghai. The Chennai Corporation is likely to collect data on waste management in Shanghai in its pursuit of waste-to-energy facilities.
Announcing that the Chennai Corporation team led by the Corporation Commissioner D. Karthikeyan will visit China, Mayor Saidai S.Duraisamy said the team will study the technological options available for solid waste management in China.
The data likely to be collected by the team from the facilities such as incinerators in Shanghai for converting waste to energy will help them assess its environmental impact in a populous city that generates over 10,000 tonnes of garbage per day. As Chennai is likely to emerge as a city generating over 10,000 tonnes in a few years, the visit will also help the civic body learn lessons pertaining to mistakes committed by such populous cities in solid waste management.
The team will also visit Hong Kong and Singapore to study sustainable practices in waste management.
Corporation Commissioner D.Karthikeyan said the team will focus on studying the process of remediation of many dump yards in China. Tonnes of garbage dumped in sites are being used to produce energy. “We will try to find a solution to garbage dumping in Perungudi and Kodungaiyur,” he said.
Meanwhile a private consultant under the supervision of the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Ltd is in the process of identifying the right company among those that had expressed interest in supplying suitable technology to the Corporation for its massive solid waste management initiative. The initiative includes remediation and scientific closure of the Perungudi and Kodungaiyur dumpyards. The request for proposal will be made after suitable company is selected based on the feedback given by the team that visits China
The district administration of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur have recommended new plots of land for the solid waste management facilities. The civic body now generates over 4,600 tonnes of municipal solid waste on a daily basis.
