Stop Dumping in Pallikaranai

Representation from Students, Staff and Faculty of IIT Madras (in their personal capacity) to

The Madras High Court Expert Committee on Pallikarnai Wet Lands

Pallikarnai wetland is a fresh water swamp adjacent to the Bay of Bengal situated about 20 km south of Chennai city with a geographical area of 50 kmІ. The swamp is helpful in charging the aquifers of the region effectively function as a natural drain, groundwater recharging unit and support system for birds and small life forms. It is one of the last few remaining natural ecosystems in the city of Chennai.

Every single day, Chennai city dumps an enormous amount of garbage into the environmentally sensitive Pallikarnai marshlands. Dumping of solid waste, discharge of sewage, construction of buildings, dumping of chemical waste by private industries, construction of a railway station and a new road to connect old Mahabalipuram road and Pallavaram are causing the Pallikarnai marsh to shrink. This waste is often burnt by agencies in-charge of its safe and sustainable disposal, aggravating the damage.

While health risks due to pollution of water and burning of waste have been severely aggravated, poorer residents around the area have been denied a source of drinking water due to the dumping.

Early last year, 3.17 square kilometres (793 acres) of the marshland had been classified as reserve forest area by the forest department. This was after repeated demonstrations, petitions and court cases by local residents and environmentalists against waste dumping in the Pallikarnai marsh.

However, the declaration of the marshland as a reserved forest has not resulted in any significant steps, apart from notice boards that declare the area as a reserved forest. The dumping and burning of solid waste and sewage has continued unabated.

Now, there are plans of locating an incinerator in the marshes. The construction of an incinerator will only shift the form of abuse of the marsh, without causing any reduction in the damage being caused to the environment and the people around the marsh.

As residents of an environmentally sensitive area within Chennai city ourselves, we, students, staff and faculty of IIT Madras, in our personal capacity, strongly urge the concerned authorities to take the following steps:

1. A Complete Stop to Dumping of untreated waste and sewage at the Site
2. Declare the whole of Pallikarnai marsh as an ecologically sensitive reserved marsh
3. Scrap all plans for construction of incinerators and/or landfills in or around the area
4. Implement measures throughout Chennai to segregate waste at source, and
5. To turn organic waste into manure at the local level
6. Discourage the use of non-biodegradable products in the city and take effective steps for sustainable treatment of non-degradable waste.



7. Consider effective measures: to make Extended Producer Responsibility (taking back material not easy to dispose, recycle or reuse) a requirement; to emphasize design and development of sustainable materials that are safe to use, easy to dispose, recycle or reuse; and to encourage modular design of products to facilitate easier dismantling, recovery and reuse/recycling of components at the end-of-life.



The undersigned students, staff and faculty of IIT Madras, in their personal capacity: