KWDY report

8/7/2019 KWDY report

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KODUNGAIYUR W

OF IND

REPORT

ON

STE DUMPING YARD:

RATE HUMANBEINGS

7-MARCH-2011

A PROOF


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Acknowledgement:-

Ever Vigilant Citizens Welfare Association

Written by :- Harsh raizada ([email protected])

Sudeshna De ([email protected])

Cover photo from Kodungaiyur Waste Dumping yard.


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INTRODUCTION:-

Kodungaiyur is mainly a residential locality in northern most part of the metropolitan city

of Chennai, Tamil Nadu , India. The area of Chennai Corporation starts from here. (Ward

No: 1& 2 out of 155 are located in Kodungaiyur). Kodungaiyur covers a vast area bordering

Selavayal & Chinna sekkaadu to the north, Ezhil Nagar to the east, Arul Nagar (Madhavaram

Milk Colony) to the west, Moolakadai to the southwest and MKB Nagar(Vysarpadi)to the

south. National Highway 5(NH 5) touches this area in southwest at Moolakadai.

According to the Corporation of Chennai, per capita solid waste generation is about 500gms

per day and the total estimated solid waste generation of Chennai is 3200 MTsper day

(1).This garbage consists primarily of organic waste, different kinds of plastics, packaging

waste, paper, metal, glass, construction debris, bio-medical waste and slaughter house waste.

To dump this solid waste, Chennai Corporation is using two dumping yards; one is at

Kodungaiyur and another is at the Perungudi. Among these two places Kodungaiyur is the

major and biggest dumping yard spreading over 400-450 acre of land where the garbage

from north and central Chennai are being dumped here , whereas the garbageof southChennai are dumped in Perungudi.

Kodungaiyur dumping yard is an illegal waste disposal site, which is a marshy land with a

land use expectancy of maximum up to 2015, the total number of years in use being 25

years, Located adjacent to the Kodungaiyur sewage treatment plant on the southern margins

of flood prone alluvial lowlands of Korattalaiyar River, the area is primarily residential with

the population of more than 100,000 people. According to the Chennai Corporation map

the land is depicted as being used for the institutional area but basically this land is

being used as a dumping yard since 1985 as said by N.S.RamchandraRao, the presidentof Ever Vigilant Citizen Association, who is a resident of that area. Kannadasannagar,

Krishnamoorthynagar, Ezhilnagar and Rajarathannagar are some of the colonies which are

situated on the fringe of the dumping ground and are the worst affected.

ISSUES:-

According to Ramchandra Rao, he and the other local residents are dealing with fetid smell,

toxic and irritating fumes of garbage burning from past 15 years. Unsanitary conditions at

the dump yard have made it an ideal breeding ground for flies and pests. Illegal bio-medicalwaste dumping has Mosquitoes in evening are uncontrollable even after closing every doors

and windows of the house and also by using various repellents and insecticides. Because of

the leachate from the garbage, the ground water quality is also very poor in that area. People

living there are left with no choice but to accept that they have to drink and use that water.

According to theTHE HINDU, published on Feb 04, 2008, air samples were taken from

the yard on January 22, 2007 and analyzed by Colombia laboratory services in California

that revealed the presence of 33 noxious gases, five of which are carcinogenic. Most of the

residents have a problem of cough, cold, flies and fear of malaria. Sometimes the situation


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becomes so bad that schools in the vicinity are bound to declare holidays due to the toxic

gases and the fetid smell around.

This dump violates site guidelines. The government never got permission from the Tamil

Nadu Pollution Control Board to operate or discharge waste here Kodungaiyur is a

political solution. It dumps the waste of the city on the poor, as told by Nityanand

Jayaraman, Advisor of Community Environmental Monitoring(2).

According to the Chennai corporation site, around 160 compost bin structures have been

constructed at various wards in various zones to process the segregated organic waste but

still no one is properly following these rules and Kodungaiyur dumping zone is receiving

tons of mixed garbage daily. Now this situation is getting worse year by year. Now-a-days,

this place is also receiving hazardous waste from the city hospitals, including human body

parts, used syringes and bloodied gauze. According to Ganga, a rag picker who sells plastic

and rubber collected from the trash, she has seen chunks of flesh and even dead babies lying

among the mass of syringes, medicine bottles, and blood-soaked cotton and they are

scavenged by dogs and crows(3). In this way, Rule 1.4 and 1.8 of collection of municipal solid

waste under Schedule II of Municipal Solid Waste Handling Rules are being violated every

day(4).

Health of the inhabitants there has suffered a serious blow due to the constant assault of

chemicals from the dumping ground. Respiratory tract disorders are abnormally high

especially among children. According to the residents, the instances of cancer are on the rise

but due to the absence of any regular health monitoring substantiating figures is difficult.

Ramachandra Rao, is himself suffering from various eye and skin problems.

An air quality monitoring has been done on 23rd

August,2006 at Kodungaiyur by Community

Environmental Monitoring (CEM),which showed, a total of 9 chemicals were detected in the

ambient air and 5 of them were above the USEPA Region 6 levels(5). Of the 5 chemicals that

exceeded the permissible limits, 3 are known to cause cancer in humans and animals. Many

factors like the wind direction, climate and transit delay impact the concentration of the

chemicals in the sample. The only factor that could influence the pollutants in the air would

be the composition of garbage that is burnt. Street-side open garbage dumping and burning

in Chennai should be alarming both for the common citizen and the policy makers, which is

again violation of Rule 1.7 of collection of municipal solid waste under Schedule II of

Municipal Solid Waste Handling Rules, 2000. Toxic material such as Poly Vinyl Chloride

(PVC) and other plastics, solvents and metals contribute to the toxicity of the air. However,

these chemicals are impossible to destroy completely and can damage the environment and

human health at levels as low as a few parts per billion cubic meters of air.

The issue at hand needs immediate attention and a durable solution as most of these

chemicals like Carbon Disulphide, Acetone, 2-Butanone, Toluene etc, found in the air


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analysis, either target the central nervous system, the respiratory system, the cardio vascular

system, the reproductive system or major organs of the body like the liver and kidneys.

Chemicals like Chloromethane, Benzene, 1,4-Dichlorobenzene are even known to cause

cancer in humans and animals. Moreover, this is important to mention that the area is

densely populated (more than 100,000 population) which is violation of Rule 8 and 9 of site

selection criteria under Schedule III of Municipal Solid Waste Handling Rules, 2000(4).

According to the THE HINDU August 18, 2010, The Expert Appraisal Committee of the

Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has recommended to the Ministry that clearance

could be accorded for the integrated solid waste management project at Kodungaiyur dump

yard. The Chennai Corporation, which has proposed the project, is likely to receive the

clearance in few days, but nothing has been done till date.

SOLUTION:-

Kodungaiyur is an ecologically sensitive area. It is one of the few remaining natural

marshlands in Chennai. Main solution to this problem is; new land should be allocated for

dumping the garbage which will be far from human inhabitation, and also the garbage should

be segregated with the modern techniques according to the ward or zone because it is quite

feasible to treat 2 ton garbage in every ward in spite of treating 3200 MTs garbage

cumulatively at Kodungaiyur. Moreover, policy level interventions should be imposed on

materials like plastics, which have to be phased out, and replaced with eco friendly products.

Hazardous products (like batteries, PVC, pesticide and chemical containers) using toxic

substances should be returned to the producer.

Various awareness programmes should be done for the common citizen of Chennai toenhance the knowledge about the side-effect of waste, waste management techniques. These

programmes should also convey the message about the problems faced by the people who

are living near the garbage dumping yards; after all they are humanbeings and we should

help them to live a clean and healthy life.

The health of Kodungaiyur residents, particularly the children, is seriously compromised.

The Corporation must pay for a comprehensive health study and medical treatment and

rehabilitation for affected persons.

Waste segregation at source can solve a major part of the waste management problem. Non-

biodegradable substances should be separated from kitchen and garden waste at home.

Collection, treatment and disposal of Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable garbage should

be done separately. Organic wastes should be composted at household levels. The

Corporation of Chennai has exceeded the 2001 deadline laid by the Central Govt. for safe

handling and disposal of municipal solid waste by 5 years (6). The Act clearly mandates

segregation of garbage at source i.e. at the household level also requires the local bodies to

educate citizens on waste segregation. The Corporation should take citizen awareness


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programmes on waste segregation.The Rules are also required for the local civic bodies not

to collect unsegregated garbage and prohibited burning of any kind of garbage.

CONCLUSION:-

In spite of having all the headlines in the newspapers like garbage burning returns to plague

Kodungaiyur residents, Thursday, May 17, 2007, Kodungaiyur residents protest garbage

dumping, Monday, Jan28, 2008, a dump yard sets resident fuming, Monday, February 4,

2008 and last but not the least Hospital waste renders Kodungaiyur hazardous, February

12th, 2010;the situation is getting worse day by day and nobody is doing anything. Progress

seems only in papers, and the people near the Kodungaiyur dumping ground are still

struggling everyday to live a healthy and clean life.

Even after all the interventions and ifs n buts, the need of the hour is to draw attention of

every citizen of Chennai towards the pathetic living conditions of residents in Kodungaiyur.

Until everybody realizes the situation of their own city folks, no intervention or management

will work for them.

REFERENCE:-

1) Corporation of Chennai, solid waste managementdepartment,http://www.chennaicorporation.gov.in/departments/solid-waste-

management/index.htm

2) http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/04/stories/2008020460040300.htm3) http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/28/stories/2008012858830500.htm4) Schedule II and III of Municipal Solid Waste Handling Rules 2000, Govt. of India5) http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6pd/rcra_c/pd-n/screen.htm6) http://www.sipcotcuddalore.com/downloads/choking_in_garbage_II.pdf

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