The Hindu 15.06.2012
Capping of accumulated garbage begins
It will end the problems faced by residents of Kurichi, Vellalore: Coimbatore Corporation
By starting a process of scientific closure of accumulated municipal solid waste, the Coimbatore Corporation sought to provide on Thursday a sign of relief for residents in more than 15 colonies around its compost yard at Vellalore.
These colonies had been exposed to health hazards for close to a decade because of flies from the dump yard and smoke from burning garbage invading their houses.
The Rs. 12.56 crore scientific closure or capping that began on Thursday is one of the components of the Corporation's Rs. 96.5 crore Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Project. This is being implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The other methods of waste disposal at the yard are turning bio-degradable garbage into manure and burying deep the non-biodegradable ones in landfills. As for the colonies that formed the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee (KVPPAC) to demand the shifting of the yard, the relief will not come immediately. It will take four months for the Corporation and the private party it has tied up with to complete the capping.
Totally, 8.86 tonnes of garbage lies accumulated across the 300-acre yard. Officials explained that the immediate task was to bring all these waste to a 17-acre site earmarked for the closure. This work alone would take one to one-and-a-half months.
While landfill involved digging a vast, deep pit, the capping would be just the opposite.
Waste would be piled up in two blocks, of a height of nearly 25 ft each. These will be compacted to eliminate any loose portions from coming off. A 200 mm layer of gravel would be laid on these and over this a 600 mm layer of clay to prevent water from seeping in. Another topping of 150 mm gravel would be provided and then a layer of non-woven geo-textile. Finally, a 300 mm natural soil would form the topmost layer, in order to create a green space.
When fully capped, the two sections would resemble inverted boats. Rain falling on these would flow down the slopes into a drainage that would be provided around the 17-acre site.
The Corporation said it would strain every sinew to make up for lost time. Commissioner T.K. Ponnuswamy ordered that more workers, vehicles, and equipment should be put into this work so that there would not be any further loss of time.
The closure project was originally planned for garbage yards at Kavundampalayam, Ondipudur and Vellalore. The work had been completed in the first two sites.
The work in Vellalore ran into ligitation. The residents' committee moved the High Court in 2004 for an order that no waste management project should come up at this yard.
The court directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board to hear both sides (the residents and the Corporation) and dispose of the case. After the hearing, the board gave the clearance in March 2011. By then 5.5 lakh tonnes of additional garbage had accumulated, over the 3.36 lakh tonnes that was estimated to be capped in 2008. The litigation had stopped the process of turning waste into manure. This, in turn, led to the accumulation of the waste in the open yard.
Alive to the resentment among the residents, the officials said that hereafter the waste brought to the yard every day would be disposed of the same day through landfill, recycling or composting (turning into manure).
Secretary of the action committee K.S. Mohan
was sceptical of the efficacy of the project. “Actually, we are certain
that our problem will not be solved with whatever the Corporation does
now. The threat of pollution will be eliminated only if the scheme is
shifted out of this yard.”
