It’s official: Ariyamangalam dump yard to turn into a park

The Tiruchi City Corporation, which is planning to set up a massive park at the Ariyamangalam garbage dump, has floated a tender for the land reclamation component of the project.

The dump is spread over an area of about 47.70 acres. According to an estimate, the dump has accumulated waste of 3.5 lakh tonne to 4 lakh tonne.

The dump yard, which was set up about 6 to 7 decades ago, is posing a big challenge to the Tiruchi Corporation, which is facing the wrath of residents of Ariyamangalam and Kattur due to the constant health hazard posed by the mounting garbage mounds.

As per the project, the entire 47.70 acres will be reclaimed within two years. The successful bidder will have to clear the garbage within the stipulated time. The bidder can follow any of the standard method to remove the garbage. The bidder can also tie up with the cement companies for transporting the segregated non-degradable waste.

Materials such as plastics, rubber, leather, metals and glass will have to be extracted from mounds of accumulated waste. Several of them can be sent to the cement factories to be used as fuel in cement kilns. The options of producing organic manure can also be explored. A sum of Rs. 50 crore has been earmarked for the project under the Smart City proposals. A high power committee of the Tiruchi Smart City Ltd had also approved the land reclamation project.

Corporation Commissioner N. Ravichandran told The Hindu that tender has already been floated for the project.

The process would be completed within November. Based on the experience and technical and financial competency of the bidders, work order would be given to the successful bidder.

“There is a huge demand for non degradable plastic waste. The Ariyamangalam dump has thousands of tonnes of plastic waste, which can be used as fuel in cement klins. We expect that the project will be viable and successful to reclaim the entire area,” Mr. Ravichandran said.

He said that the Commissioner of Municipal Administration G. Prakash had visited the dump yard on a few occasions.

He had mooted the idea of setting up of a massive public park on the lines of New York City Park. The design of the park would be finalised once the successful bidder commenced the land reclamation works.

Source