Chennai: A Rs 53.6 crore biomining project to clear the legacy waste left in Perungudi

Chennai: Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru on Wednesday flagged off the removal of 550,000 metric tons of legacy waste from the Perungudi dumpyard through biomining. The project is estimated to cost approximately ₹53.60 crore. This new round of biomining comes after a drone survey conducted in June 2025 revealed that 550,000 metric tons of legacy waste remained in some parts of the landfill, even though biomining in Packages 1 and 2 had already been declared complete. The GCC has given the contractor nine months to complete the process. Once the waste is cleared, approximately 78 acres of land in Packages 1 and 2 are expected to be reclaimed.
The Perungudi landfill, which has been in use for approximately 40 years, receives solid waste generated in Zones 9-15 of the city. Biomining is being carried out in phases to clean up decades-old waste at this approximately 225-acre dumpyard. The landfill was divided into six packages, identifying approximately 29.28 lakh cubic meters of old waste stored above ground for processing. According to corporation data, 29.20 lakh cubic meters of waste had been cleared by February. Work has been completed in packages 3, 4, and 5, helping reclaim approximately 94 acres of land, while work in package 6 is in its final stages and is expected to be completed by the end of March.