CHENNAI: Thousands of residents from across North Chennai, spanning all age groups, formed a human chain stretching nearly 4 km from Kodungaiyur Ezhil Nagar to Vyasarpadi Market on Sunday, protesting the Greater Chennai Corporation’s plan to establish a Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant in Kodungaiyur.
The demonstration is a follow-up on the seminar organised by the Federation of North Chennai Residents Welfare Associations (FNCRWA) on April 13, highlighting environmental concerns in the region.
Carrying banners and placards, protesters condemned the proposed incinerator, demanding infrastructure development such as a sports complex, hospital, and indoor stadium to uplift north Chennai. “If this incinerator is truly safe, build it near the Secretariat or Greenways Road. We’ve endured the stench of garbage and chemicals here for over 30 years,” said FNCRWA president TK Shanmugam.
Critics cited a study from Ivry-sur-Seine, Paris, where an incinerator reportedly caused dangerous dioxin levels in soil and moss near schools. A letter from Paris-based NGO Collectif 3R, shared with FNCRWA, corroborated these findings. This comes after GCC Commissioner J Kumaragurabaran and officials visited Paris to review WTE models.
Ahead of the protest, residents had held a signature campaign and distributed miniature globes to children, symbolising their role as guardians of a pollution-free planet. Nearly 10,000 participants joined the human chain, emphasising intergenerational responsibility.
A collective pledge underscored commitments to waste segregation and opposition to the project. “The government must cancel this project, which threatens our future,” the pledge stated, urging peaceful activism.
Protesters stressed that north Chennai was already burdened with landfills and industrial pollution, and deserves sustainable development. “We need parks, indoor stadiums and hospitals, not more toxic infrastructure,” said a resident.
The GCC has yet to respond to the demands. With tensions rising, the protest highlights a growing clash between urban waste management policies and community-driven environmental justice in Chennai’s marginalised northern neighbourhoods.