CHENNAI: Raising serious concerns over regulatory oversight and public health safeguards, a fact-finding report has found that 45 of the 48 mandatory environmental parameters prescribed under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, were not monitored even once at the 50 tonnes per day waste incinerator in Kodungaiyur since it began operations in 2021.
The report, Exposing the violations of emission norms of the 50 MTPD waste incinerator in Kodungaiyur, prepared by the Alliance for Incinerator Free Chennai and the Federation for North Chennai Residents Welfare Association, is based on responses obtained under the Right to Information Act and field inspections.
According to the findings, 9 of the 11 flue gas emission parameters, including hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, total organic carbon, hydrogen fluoride, dioxins and furans, and heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead, were never monitored during the five-year period of operation. Only particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides were monitored, and that too only once in April 2024.
The report also pointed to the complete absence of monitoring of leachate and effluent water quality. None of the 19 parameters prescribed for wastewater discharge, including heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and lead, and toxic constituents such as cyanide and phenolic compounds, were monitored.
Similarly, none of the 13 mandatory toxicity parameters for bottom ash and fly ash generated by the incineration process were monitored, added the fact-finding report that was released in Chennai on Monday.
Despite directions issued by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board during inspections in April and June 2025, the operator did not furnish the required data, leading to the issue of a show cause notice in June 2025.
“The facility lacks activated carbon filters to capture dioxins and heavy metals, as well as mandatory Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems. There is no evidence that the plant maintains the mandated furnace temperature of 950 degrees Celsius, which is essential for neutralising toxins,” the report said.
Residents living near the plant alleged health impacts from prolonged exposure to emissions. Logesh Raja, a resident of Nethaji Nagar, said families in the neighbourhood experienced chronic cough and wheezing, and expressed fears of long-term health consequences.
“Children, women, and elderly people in our homes are impacted the most, as they are exposed to these toxic fumes for longer periods,” he said.
TK Shanmugam, president of the Federation for North Chennai Residents Welfare Association, warned that scaling up waste incineration capacity could worsen public health risks.
“If a 50-tonne incinerator is already causing such harm in Kodungaiyur, expanding this to 2,100 or 3,600 tonnes a day will push Chennai into a public health and environmental disaster,” he said, calling for the closure of the facility and adoption of alternative waste management approaches.
The report also raised concerns over proposed new waste-to-energy incinerators planned in Kodungaiyur and Tambaram, stating that they could lock the city into a high-carbon and high-cost waste management pathway.
The proposed plants are estimated to emit about 6,120 tonnes of carbon dioxide a day, an amount the authors said would be comparable to emissions from around 1.53 million cars.
MIDS former professor S Janakarajan said waste-to-energy incinerators were being phased out in several countries, even as such facilities continued to be promoted locally. He also flagged concerns over the mixing of biomedical and municipal waste in the city’s waste stream, which, he said, could exacerbate health risks for nearby residents.