The city’s waste management plant may soon be set up in Kuthambakkam.
Of the 10 bids received by Chennai Corporation from private companies for the setting up of such plants to process municipal solid waste, six have proposed that such a facility be set up in Kuthambakkam. The four other companies had named Minjur as their preferred locality.
The bids were from the 10 companies short-listed by the civic body to tackle the growing problem of waste disposal in the city. Kuthambakkam, which has a 99-acre plot of land identified for the project, is significantly larger than Minjur’s 67-acre plot. Most of the city’s waste is likely to be processed in the proposed Kuthambakkam plant. Initially more than 2,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste generated in the southern parts of the city will be processed in Kuthambakkam, which is preferred for its easy access. Kuthambakkam is just 10 km from Poonamallee.
The facility will convert the waste into compost and will also generate energy from waste. However, preference will be given to the waste-to-energy technology. The tender evaluation committee will finalise one company from the 10 to carry out the project, in a few days.
This apart, around 2,000 tonnes of waste from the northern parts of the city will be processed in Minjur by December 2014. After the plants are commissioned, solid waste generated in the city may no longer be transported to Kodungaiyur and Perungudi dumping yards, where it is currently disposed of.
The technology adopted by the plants will not pollute neighbourhoods, said a Corporation official.
