This comes in the wake of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests notifying the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules 2000.

Under these rules, development authorities have been entrusted with the responsibility of identifying landfill sites and handing them over to the municipal authorities concerned for development operation and maintenance.

According to CMDA estimates in its website, it is estimated that by 2026 about 6590 tonnes of solid waste will be generated in the local body areas of CMA including Chennai city.

But experts say that the city is currently generating more than 6,000 tonnes of solid waste. According to the Greater Chennai Corporation, the estimated generation of solid waste per day in the city is 4500 tonnes of garbage and 700 tonnes of building materials.

Sources said that the study would help planners and policy-makers evolve suitable policies and action plans on a short-term and long-term basis for solid waste management. This could be the first such comprehensive study to be carried out for the entire Chennai Metropolitan Area.

Till now no detailed study on solid waste has been carried out.

The study will involve a series of comprehensive surveys for the entire Chennai Metropolitan Area including solid waste types and characterstics of solid wastes, available technology, best practices, functional coordination among all stakeholders, setting minimum performance standards for different agencies involved, assessing the sustainability of waste management, identifying landfill grounds, and exploring waste-to-energy techniques and avenues for availing Carbon Fund.

The study will recommend minimum performance standards for sustained solid waste management and appropriate technology or best practices in solid waste infrastructure.