COIMBATORE: A coalition of citizens, environmental experts, resident welfare associations, waste justice advocates and civil society organisations from across Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country has urged the state govt to withdraw the plan to set up a 1,200 tonne per day waste-to-energy (WtE) plant at the Vellalore dump yard here and to adopt a decentralised zero waste strategy instead. Members of the Poovulagin Nanbargal, an NGO, earlier this month conducted a signature campaign to mobilise social activists in the state to oppose the move to set up the WtE plant. On Wednesday, the NGO submitted a representation to the state govt along with signatures of the campaign participants, mentioning that the proposed incineration project contradicts the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) directions on decentralised waste management, scientific biomining of legacy waste and restoration of the Vellalore dump yard. The NGO opposed the proposal to transport municipal waste from neighbouring Tirupur to the facility, arguing that it would place an additional environmental and public health burden on residents of Vellalore, who have already endured decades of pollution from the dump yard. The representation cited CSIR-NEERI findings that mixed municipal waste is unsuitable for large-scale incineration due to its high moisture content and low calorific value. It referred to the closure of municipal waste incinerators in Chennai’s Manali and said several countries were shifting away from waste incineration towards zero waste systems. K S Mohan, secretary of the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee, said the NGT had directed scientific remediation of the dump yard and restoration of the land for public use, not the establishment of another polluting facility. “The WtE plant continues to attract objections from various states. The plant in Chennai was run without seeking proper approval from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and was completely shut down last year. The National Green Tribunal, South Zone, took a suo motu action on this issue. Evidence on how ash from incinerators causes hazardous health complications has been submitted. Hence, this plant will also end up in a similar situation where villages surrounding Vellalore will have to suffer a lot,” he said. The members urged the state govt, the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board and the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation to withdraw the project, make feasibility and environmental studies public, commission an independent comparison with zero waste alternatives, strengthen segregation and recycling infrastructure, and formulate a district wide zero waste strategy.
