The Vellore Corporation has commenced work for complete removal of tonnes of wastes that were dumped for many years, along dry Palar river, off the Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH 48), on Wednesday to ensure free flow of excess rainwater in the river during monsoon and to prevent flooding of residential areas along the waterbody.

Accompanied by R. Lakshman, Commissioner, Vellore Corporation, Collector V.R. Subbulaxmi inspected the first biomining of accumulated wastes in the river on Wednesday. Corporation officials said the project will help restore total space of the existing riverbed for free flow of rainwater during monsoon.

It will also help prevent contamination of ground water in its vicinity. “The biomining work, which will be completed in mid-2027, will cost ₹11.50 crore for the State exchequer. It will help restore the original river course within Corporation limits,” Mr. Lakshmanan, Corporation Commissioner, told The Hindu.

At present, the Corporation maintains two large open dumpyards at Saduperi lake near Central Prison and Palar river. Of this, the lake has the largest coverage area of garbage storage with around five acres.

The landfill site along the river spreads over two acres where household and commercial garbage from Zone - I and Zone - 2 of the civic body are dumped. The Corporation consists of 60 wards in its four zones with a population of eight lakh persons. 

In terms of volume of wastes generated, Saduperi lake area has around 80 tonnes of wastes whereas around 45 tonnes of wastes are stored along Palar river.

As per plan, dumped wastes in the river will be biomined with non-bio degradable wastes like PET bottles will be sent to cement factories in Ariyalur. Biodegradable wastes will be recycled to produce organic manure, which will be given to local farmers at a nominal cost. 

At present, around 240 tonnes of wastes are generated within the civic body limits everyday. Most of the wastes are handled at Micro Compost Centres (MCC) on a daily basis. The civic body has 50 MCCs at 29 locations to handle wastes.