Chennai: Tambaram city municipal corporation has cleared about 2.7 lakh tonnes, nearly 45%, of the six lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste accumulated at Appur landfill under its ₹36-crore biomining project.The corporation, spread across 70 wards in five zones, generates about 450 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily. Around 2,000 sanitary workers and 400 garbage collection vehicles are deployed for waste management operations.Officials said about 100 tonnes of waste collected daily from Perungalathur zone is segregated, with biodegradable waste sent to composting centres and the rest routed through Kannadapalayam transfer station. The corporation has procured eight sealed containers and four hydraulic trucks at ₹8 crore to reduce spillage and foul odour during transit.The corporation operates five transfer stations — Kannadapalayam, Visweswarapuram, Madambakkam, Thiruneermalai and Chromepet — where the non-biodegradable waste is compressed into sealed 15-tonne containers, and makes about 21 truck trips daily to Appur. Tambaram corporation commissioner S Balachander said, “The remaining legacy waste is being processed in phases, and we expect to complete biomining by next year.”Residents, however, flagged irregular door-to-door collection. Pallavaram residents’ welfare association president M Gandhi said Pallavaram Periya Eri, Nemilichery Lake and Ramasamy Chetty Pond have turned into dumping hotspots. He also urged the corporation to strengthen monitoring of waste transportation to prevent illegal dumping, particularly near water bodies.
