For more than two decades, those residing around the sprawling Puthu Thangal Eri in West Tambaram had to put up with a foul stench emanating from a dump site adjacent to the waterbody. During rains, the stench would be pungent. There have also been cases of spontaneous first outbreaks in the dump site, say residents.
There are signs that these things will soon be a thing of the past, as the Tambaram Municipality has started the bio-mining project at Kannadapalayam landfill located near West Tambaram. In the past, the bio-mining project at Kannadapalayam landfill had missed many deadlines — it was supposed to start in 2017.
The Tambaram Municipality had proposed the bio-mining project in 2017, after years of protests by local residents and after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) pulled up the Municipality and imposed a fine of ₹ 5 lakh on it for not taking any efforts to clear the garbage from the dumping ground.
“Continual dumping of trash has contaminated the groundwater. As a result, for cooking and drinking purposes, residents buy water cans. For other purposes, we have no other option but to use the contaminated water,” says a resident on conditions of anonymity.
The Zigma Global Environ Solutions Private Limited has been entrusted with the bio-mining exercise at the Kannadapalayam landfill.
It is said that the dump site has one lakh tonnes of waste.
Till date, around 30,000 tonnes of wastes have been cleared. The Tambaram Municipality is extending all co-operation and support to carry out the exercise, Zigma officials added.
