The Salem waste-to-energy project has faced opposition from Pattali Makkal Katchi MLA Soumya, who said on October 24 that she would not allow the proposed facility to be established near Vellaikalpatti, close to Jagir Ammapalayam.
According to Dinamalar, Soumya inspected the location identified for the project and said the proposed site covers about 90 acres. The project is intended to burn municipal waste and generate 10 megawatts of electricity, she said.
The MLA alleged that the project would create environmental and public-health risks. She claimed that chemicals released during waste combustion could affect nearby communities and that ash produced by the facility could spread through the air, potentially causing breathing difficulties for children. These health and pollution claims were made by Soumya during her inspection and were not independently established in the report.
Soumya also questioned the way solid waste is being managed in Tamil Nadu. Referring to waste accumulation at Kodungaiyur and Perungudi in Chennai, she said the state had not demonstrated a clear method for managing or safely disposing of municipal waste. She alleged that a similar incineration-based approach was being considered for Salem.
The MLA said the project had previously been described as a “waste-to-energy” initiative and was now being presented as electricity generation through energy recovery. She argued that the state should instead consider renewable sources such as wind and solar power for electricity generation.
The proposed land use was another point of opposition. Soumya claimed that the Vellaikalpatti area contains valuable mineral resources worth more than Rs 3,000 crore. She said using the land for waste disposal and incineration would amount to discarding those resources. The report did not provide an independent assessment of the alleged mineral value or details of the land’s ownership and approval status.
Soumya also referred to proposed investments of Rs 800 crore for a textile park and Rs 200 crore for the waste incineration project, placing the combined amount at Rs 1,000 crore. She described the projects as harmful to Salem’s environmental future and said she would apply legal pressure against the waste-to-energy proposal.
The reported opposition places the project’s next stage under public scrutiny, particularly over the selection of the 90-acre site, the technology proposed for handling waste, emissions and ash management, and the approvals required before construction. Soumya said the protest would continue until the project was abandoned, but the report did not state whether the project had received final administrative or environmental clearance.
