Landfills need no more refills

Ten feet high-unsorted garbage spread over 250 acres of the Perungudi landfills is testimony to the fact that there is no segregation of solid waste despite the claims of the Chennai Corporation.
No effort for sustainable waste management has been taken by the Corporation or the private companies who are in-charge of collecting the waste despite the MSW (Handling and Management Act 2000) which specifically states that segregation of solid waste is a must. The garbage is also dumped in ecologically fragile areas like the Pallikaranai Marsh in spite of the High Court granting it protected status. A corporation official says that it does not dump waste at the marsh but it’s the local people and town panchayat who do. But one look at the Pallikaranai ‘dump yard’ and the leveled out garbage spread across 10 acres is proof that an organization is involved. There is a run-down unit with a dysfunctional weigh bridge and private security guards at the entrance of the marsh leading to speculation in the involvement of the Chennai Corporation and other private players. Prashant, a resident of the area, says “Once a week, the garbage at the ‘dump yard’ is burnt and the smoke causes a lot of health problems. We have to wait for the smoke to settle before we can start driving.” More garbage is heaped onto the ashes and the cycle goes on.
The Perungudi landfill has been in use for 20 years, yet there is no reform in the manner in which the garbage is dumped. The road that leads to the landfill is a mud-track despite the claims made by the Corporation of spending Rs 25 lakh to build the road. It is a place where rag pickers earn their living. Plastic, paper, optical fibers, rubber products, organic waste all of it can be found together in large heaps that have accumulated over the years. It is left to dry in the sun; the latest garbage is taken to the back of the landfill and the front of the landfill is dried garbage. During the rainy season, the environmental and health hazards are prominent and the stench is unbearable. Bags with segregated garbage which is meant for recycling can be found lying amongst the other trash. So the efforts made by an individual become meaningless due to official apathy. 50 trucks carrying garbage come to the landfill everyday and they cannot measure the quantity as the weighbridge hasn’t been working for the last two months. The Supervisor at the landfill says, “Each truck can hold 5 tonnes of garbage and that’s how we note it down.” As per his calculation there are 2500 tonnes of garbage that are collected and disposed at the landfill. But most trucks are not filled to their entire capacity and this is overlooked by the Chennai Corporation.
The Chennai Corporation could learn from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras on how to collect and manage waste. They segregate their garbage into organic and non organic waste. The organic waste is dumped into a pit dug in the forest which is partly consumed by monkeys and deer, and the rest is composted by nature and acts as manure. The non-organic is sold and sent for recycling.