Chennai: “The plan to set up a waste incinerator over an area of 92 acres in the Jagir Ammapalayam area of Salem city and generate electricity from waste will cause a major disaster for the people of Salem city,” warned PMK leader Anbumani.
In a statement issued by him on this matter, “Chief Minister Vijay, who made an announcement under Rule 110 in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on September 2, announced that a waste-to-energy project would be implemented in Salem Corporation at a cost of Rs. 291 crore with a capacity of 10 megawatts, and in Nellai at a cost of Rs. 256 crore with a capacity of 9 megawatts.
Following this, it has been announced by the Municipal Administration Department that a plant to generate electricity by burning solid waste will be set up on 92.49 acres of government-owned land opposite Kongu S.R.V. School in Vellakalpatti, in the Jagir Ammapalayam area of Salem, and work for it has begun. This will bring about a disaster for Salem city.
Waste incinerators are a failed project worldwide. Many developed countries around the world have banned this project. Since all waste, including plastic, is burned together in waste incinerators, it releases dioxin, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, mercury, carbon dioxide, dioxide, furan, and more.
PM 2.5 and PM 10 toxic particles floating in the air, as well as volatile organic compounds, are released. Many of these chemicals are extremely toxic, persistent substances that do not break down when mixed with the environment; they are so dangerous that even after entering the human body, they can continue to cause harm without decomposing.
Among power generation technologies, the most polluting is the waste incinerator. Compared with a coal-fired thermal power plant, a waste incinerator releases 28 times more dioxins, 3 times more nitrogen oxides, 14 times more mercury, 6 times more sulfur dioxide, and 2.5 times more carbon dioxide.
These toxic chemicals can cause cancer, heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and impotence. Burning garbage can lead to many harms, including skin diseases, liver damage, and asthma. Children and the elderly will be affected the most. Not only air pollution, but also incinerator ash can cause severe damage. Just as the gas leak in Bhopal caused harm in a single day, garbage incinerators pose the risk of causing gradual damage over time.
Knowing all these facts, for more than the past decade the previous rulers announced hazardous waste incinerator projects and carried out the related work in places such as Kodungaiyur in North Chennai, Perungudi in South Chennai, Keerapakkam in Chengalpattu district, and Vellalur in Coimbatore. In this situation, the newly assumed TVK government is also eager to set up waste incinerators in places like Jagir Amma Palayam in Salem and Tirunelveli.
The Salem Jagir Ammapalayam garbage incinerator project was also conceived during the previous administration. From the time the plan was formulated to the identification and finalization of the site, everything was finalized during the DMK regime. Why is the TVK government, which canceled various projects announced during the DMK regime, eager to implement only this disastrous project?.
Solid waste garbage will be transported by road from the urban local bodies in the districts of Salem, Namakkal, Erode, and Dharmapuri, as well as from the Karur Municipal Corporation in Karur district, and burned in the Salem waste incinerator. Since up to 60% of this consists of wet waste, it will cause foul odor, environmental degradation, and the spread of disease along the entire route by which it is transported.
Moreover, this plant will require one and a half lakh liters of water every day. Although a portion of this will be obtained by treating wastewater, most of the water will have to be drawn from the ground, placing enormous pressure on the groundwater table.
A plan has already been announced to set up a textile park on 119 acres in Jagirpalayam, Salem, and work on it has begun. More than 60 dyeing units are to be established in this textile park, which is being set up at a cost of Rs. 800 crore. For this, not only will large quantities of groundwater be extracted on one side, but the wastewater discharged from the dyeing units, mixed with chemicals and toxic substances, will poison land, water, and air alike.
Since the garbage incinerator is now set to be established in that very area, the air they breathe and the drinking water of the people living within a 30 km radius will cause countless diseases, including cancer and heart disease. Should such a catastrophe be bought by spending Rs. 291 crore of the people’s tax money? That is the question raised by the PMK.
During the Second World War, Jews captured by Hitler’s Nazi forces were imprisoned in extermination camps set up in Germany, gassed, and killed. The garbage incinerators proposed for places including Salem, Jagir Ammapalayam, are no less than those. Therefore, the plan to set up garbage incinerators in many parts of Tamil Nadu, including Salem, should be abandoned.
Instead, as ordered by the Supreme Court, the central government’s 2026 Solid Waste Management Rules should be implemented immediately to collect waste from homes and institutions by segregating it into four categories: wet waste, dry waste, sanitary waste, and special-care waste,’ he said.