CHENNAI: Starting Nov, Chennai residents must hire trucks empanelled by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to clear construction debris. Violators dumping debris in public places or water bodies would face fines up to 5,000.
The city generates about 850 tonnes of construction waste daily, with illegal dumping rampant. On Saturday, the corporation fined multiple households and trucks of 2.05 lakh for dumping waste in areas — Kodungaiyur, Captain Cotton, and Vyasarpadi canals.
To address this, the GCC will register and issue ID cards to around 1,000 construction and debris waste lorries. “The lorry association members have assured us they will dump debris in designated spots since we started penalising some of them during our night-time inspections,” said GCC Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran. Registration applications are open, and the list of empanelled lorries will be released within a month.
GCC guidelines allow dumping at the corporation’s 15 sites only during working hours under supervision, while night-time dumping is prohibited. No fees will be charged for dumping during designated hours.
Residents and commercial establishments can contact these lorries to transport debris to designated spots in each of the 15 zones. The corporation’s contractor agency, Premier Precision, along with local workers, will collect the waste for processing at units in Kodungaiyur and Perungudi for crushing and reuse in concrete.
“We are also procuring Point of Sale (PoS) devices for on-the-spot fines against violators who dump debris in water bodies and other areas. Additionally, ten more roving squads are being deployed to monitor and catch illegal waste dumping,” added the commissioner.
