Mayor Priya cites Paris to highlight WtE’s lack of threat to public health

CHENNAI: Mayor R Priya gave assurances that the public will not be affected by the waste-to-energy (WtE) plant, after some councillors raised objections to establishing the plant in residential areas like Kodungaiyur. She also assured that the Kodungaiyur dumpyard will be cleared through bio mining and the empty space will be used for planting saplings.

“The WtE plant will not cause any threat to the well-being of the public and not cause any health hazard, as it’s a very limited project – merely 20 WtE plants are established around the world,” she explained. “The operation will be in a closed structure; even the ash generated during the process will be kept there, and later taken to the cement factories for disposal.”

Councillor J Dilli Babu (Congress party), ward 37, raised serious health concerns over the WtE plant and sought to shift it out of the city limit. “Even in Paris, the capital city of France, there’s a WtE plant established at the heart of the city, very near to the Eiffel Tower. They maintain very high standards there, and so will we,” she pointed out. “Since the Kodungaiyur dumpyard is a huge public health hazard, and has contaminated the ground water level for years due to the piling up of waste, a WtE plant is the need of the hour.”

She also averred that all the waste would be incinerated at and above 800-degree Celsius, and it will also be disposed of safely. “After the Kodungaiyur dumpyard is cleared completely, native saplings will be planted in the empty space to restore the environment there,” said the Mayor.

Corporation Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran said that the E-waste would be collected by TNPCB and segregated at source to avoid toxic emission.