CHENNAI: Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru flagged off work on Wednesday to remove 5.50 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste at the Perungudi dumpyard through biomining, a project estimated to cost Rs 53.60 crore.

This fresh round of biomining comes after a drone survey conducted in June 2025 found 5.50 lakh MT of legacy waste still remaining in parts of the landfill, even though biomining work in packages 1 and 2 had earlier been declared complete.

The GCC has given the contractor nine months to complete the process. Once the waste is cleared, around 78 acres of land in packages 1 and 2 is expected to be additionally reclaimed.

The Perungudi landfill, which has been in use for nearly 40 years, receives solid waste generated in zones 9-15 of the city. Spread across about 225 acres, the dumpyard has been undergoing phased biomining to clear decades-old waste. The landfill was divided into six packages, under which nearly 29.28 lakh cubic metres of legacy waste stacked above ground level was identified for processing.

According to Corporation data, 29.20 lakh cubic metres of waste had been cleared as of February. Work in packages 3, 4 and 5 has been completed, helping reclaim about 94 acres of land, while work in package 6 is in the final stage and expected to be completed by the end of March.