Chennai Corporation to take up study on groundwater near dumps

The Chennai Corporation will conduct a detailed groundwater study in residential neighbourhoods around dumpsites in the city.

“IIT Madras will conduct the study. Data on water contamination in and around Kodungaiyur and Perungudi dump will be used to improve public health of residential areas and promote alternatives to existing methods of solid waste management,” said an official.

According to sources, Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited has already appointed consultancy services for preparation of a feasibility report for the solid waste management initiatives in Chennai on public private partnership (PPP) mode. Owing to the challenges reported in such initiatives, senior officials of Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department at a review meeting instructed line agencies to initiate the study through geophysical survey and assess the spread of contamination around the dump sites. The civic body would assess the extent of contamination in aquifer and identify the streets that are contaminated in Kodungaiyur and Perungudi.

Corporation officials of the Public Health Department said the leachate consists of decomposing organic matter combined with iron, mercury, lead and zinc, affecting public health for many residential areas.

“There is a need for groundwater analysis around the dump sites to know to what extent groundwater has been contaminated. But previous studies have not been carried out properly,” said an official.

Civic body officials said the dumps in Perungudi and Kodungaiyur have been developed without a system for leachate interception and collection. According to studies conducted by universities in Chennai, the leachate that seeps from the area has already infiltrated and contaminated the groundwater.

As per results of some of the studies, heavy metals exceed the acceptable limit in 80% of the samples lifted, pointing to deteriorating quality of the groundwater that has been used for drinking and domestic purposes by more than two lakh residents in the vicinity.

The Corporation handed over a portion of the Pallikaranai Marshland on the southern side of Perungudi dump to the Forest Department a few years ago. But the ecorestoration of the area by the Forest Department has also not been completed so far.