Chennai: With Kodungaiyur and Perungudi dumpyards moving towards the end of their lifetime, the Che­nnai Corporation is toying with a new strategy to dispose the daily ga­rbage being collected in the city — setting up biomethanation plants.

The corporation is planning to set up one biomethanation plant in each of its 200 wards and produce biogas through the segregated waste collected from the localities. In a pilot basis, one plant will be installed in every zone.

“Every zone will be getting one biomethanation plant within three months and ‘expression of interests’ will be invited soon,” said a top official at the corporation.

“To begin with, the gas produced will be used for cooking purposes in the nearby corporation canteens and anganwadi ce­ntres. The tough part is source segregation wh­ich needs support from the public,” the official pointed out.

Each biomethanation plant would cost nearly 25 lakh for installation. While speaking on the idea of producing elec­tric­ity from garbage, the official said, “The sch­eme involves processes similar to that of incineration (burning of gar­bage) which leads to pollution. However, biogas production is comparatively more eco friendly.”

The Kodungaiyur dum­pyard collects up to 2,300 metric tones of waste every day, while the Peru­ngudi site collects up to 2,400 metric tones of garbage. The biomethanation project if implemented will reduce the garbage dumped at these yards and will also be used for other purposes.

“If the corporation is going to reach out to every home for collecting the waste for the biomethanation plants, it must also make sure that the location of civic these facilities does not hinder transport in our area,” said S. Aditya, a resident of Thiru.Vi.Ka. Nagar.