CHENNAI: The end is in sight for the city's major landfills at Kodungaiyur and Perungudi as Greater Chennai Corporation finalised a multi-crore proposal for their remediation, including revamp of the existing conservancy process and set up of two waste-to-energy units.

Nearly Rs 1,442 crore will be spent on the project, according to corporation sources, as the civic body attempts to permanently close the 270-acre site at Kodungaiyur and the 228-acre site at Perungudi, following numerous failed efforts in the past decade.Two waste-to-energy (WTE) plants will be set up at Perungudi and Kodungaiyur, with a power production capacity of 26MW and 32MW respectively .

“The proposal is awaiting sanction from the government. But we are on track to call for tenders in six weeks' time,“ said M Vijayalakshmi, the corporation's deputy commissioner (health). The proposal document was prepared with the help of IPE Global, a consultancy firm.

The corporation will be privatising nearly 70% of conservancy operations in the city through this project which is split into four packages. Two packages, worth combined `142crore, will focus on municipal solid waste collection and transpor tation. The other packages, worth `1,300 crore, will focus on landfill remediation and setting up waste-to-en ergy plants, said a health department official. “The existing landfill will be closed and no more dumping will be allowed,“ Vijayalakshmi said. Sources said two private firms are likely to be awarded the four packages.“The maintenance of landfills will become the responsibility of the firm that wins the contract,“ an official said.

The firms will be required to maintain a sanitary landfill at Kodungaiyur and Perungudi for a period of 15 years, ensuring harmful waste will be isolated completely from the environment till total biological and chemical degradation occurs. Officials explained that finer points included in the clauses of the contract will bind the firm to adopt a process that prevents damage to soil due to leachate.

The years of unsegregated waste will be fed to the WTE plants. Crucially , the corporation will leave it to the contractor to decide how the waste gets processed to energy . “We have decided to keep (WTE) technology neutral. So, the contractor can decide how they will convert the waste into power,“ said Vijayalakshmi.

However, sources indicated the corporation's senior officials prefer using a WTE based on incineration process. The process, though cheap, produces energy at the risk of air pollution. Also, the civic body does not have accurate information about the type of historic waste present at the landfill. But officials said that they have covered all bases. “The WTE plant will meet European emission standards,“ said an official.

