A waste incinerator that burns 50 metric tonnes of garbage a day in north Chennai has been operating for nearly five years without monitoring most of the environmental parameters mandated by law, a new fact-finding report has found.
Released on Monday, February 16, the report on the Kodungaiyur waste incinerator flags serious violations of environmental regulations governing air emissions, wastewater discharge, toxic ash management, and public health safeguards. The findings raise fresh concerns about pollution exposure in one of Chennai’s most densely populated neighbourhoods.
The fact-finding mission was undertaken by Subhashree K, a researcher at the Centre for Financial Accountability, and released by the Federation of North Chennai Residents Welfare Association (FNCRWA) and the Alliance for Incinerator Free Chennai (AIFC).
The report found serious violations at the plant, which began operations in 2021 and is operated by MAK Controls and Systems Private Limited. According to Right to Information (RTI) responses obtained from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), 45 of the 48 mandatory environmental parameters under the Solid Waste Management Rules (2016) have never been monitored at the facility.
Near-total failure of environmental monitoring
Incinerators are categorised as Red category, or highly polluting industries, with a pollution index greater than 60. Despite this, the report found that eight out of 11 mandatory air emission parameters — including carcinogenic dioxins and furans and other pollutants such as heavy metals — have never been monitored.
Similarly, 19 wastewater pollution parameters and 13 toxicity parameters related to bottom ash and fly ash have never been tested in the five years that the plant has been operating. Bottom ash and fly ash are byproducts of the incineration of solid waste.
For the three parameters that were monitored, the report states that testing was carried out only once since the plant became operational.
According to the FNCRWA and AIFC, the plant also lacks advanced pollution control mechanisms such as activated carbon filters that capture pollutants from air emissions. The report further notes that the plant does not have Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS), despite a 2014 Central Pollution Control Board mandate requiring highly polluting industries to install continuous monitoring systems.
Toxic byproducts from the incineration process were found to be improperly stored and managed, with ash stockpiled in the open and toxic leachate overflowing from the facility — raising risks of contamination of groundwater, soil, and air.
The report also states that the plant has failed to maintain the minimum incineration temperature of 950 degrees Celsius mandated by the CPCB.
Fly ash generated by the plant is supposed to be converted into paver blocks for construction. However, the report notes that during a CPCB visit, the machinery for processing ash into blocks was non-operational, raising concerns that the toxic material could end up back in landfills or water bodies.
No action despite regulatory warnings
The TNPCB had instructed the plant operator to address these violations following inspections conducted in April and June 2025, and later issued a show-cause notice. However, the report states that no remedial steps have been taken.
Despite these unresolved violations, the TNPCB has granted the plant consent to operate until March 31, 2028.
Residents report health impacts
The study also documents complaints from residents living in the areas surrounding the plant, who report persistent malodours, smoke, and black soot settling on homes and streets.
Residents flagged an increase in skin and eye conditions and asthma-related illnesses.
“The doctor told me that living near an incinerator would surely cause wheezing and even advised pregnant women to move away until their babies are born,” one resident told the researcher.
Another resident said, “We experience chronic cough and wheezing because of the plant. My own father got cancer, and we strongly suspect that it is because of this toxic facility.”
Concerns grow amid expansion plans
The report gains significance in the context of the Greater Chennai Corporation’s plans to set up waste-to-energy plants that would together process 3,600 metric tonnes of waste per day, including a 2,100-metric-tonne-per-day incinerator in Kodungaiyur and another facility in Tambaram.
Releasing the report, environmentalist and former Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) professor S Janakiraman said the violations amounted to a serious threat to public health.
Calling the report a vital wake-up call, he said, “The company’s inaction is not simply ignorance. It is a criminal act that is akin to playing with the health of the people. The proponents of the WtE plant argue that this is existent in many other countries globally. Beyond the fact that most countries are letting go of these units, we also have to understand that the population density of these countries is often between 100 and 150 people per square kilometre. In Chennai, 42,000 people live in one square kilometre area of the city. The effects of such plants are therefore so much more concentrated.”
Residents’ groups have demanded the immediate shutdown of the existing incinerator and an independent investigation into the environmental and public health impacts. They are also seeking strict action against the plant operator and compensation for affected communities and ecosystems.
“While we demand the closure of this existing plant, the GCC is preparing to implement a massive Rs 3,450 crore project — an incinerator in Tambaram and another at the Kodungaiyur dump yard to burn 2,100 tonnes of waste. We met with the Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and presented the ‘Green Chennai Initiative’. The Chief Minister promised us that a high-level independent expert committee would be formed to evaluate our alternative plan. We have been waiting for three and a half months,” said KA Shanmugham, president of the FNCRWA.
Meanwhile, the Greater Chennai Corporation has passed a resolution allocating Rs 10.69 crore to lay a link road connecting the proposed waste-to-energy plant at Kodungaiyur to the main road.