Trees uprooted in Cyclone Nivar in Chennai to be converted into useful products – The Hindu

Close to 400 tonnes of fallen trees collected from different parts of the city in the wake of Cyclone Nivar will be put to good use this time.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has tied up with a private company to convert the logs into useful products for industrial purposes.

Many trees were uprooted across the city due to the impact of Cyclone Nivar and the heavy rains. “Usually these trees are removed immediately and stored in dumpyards and later sold, by following a tender process. But this time we decided to put them to good use,” said a civic official.

A few months ago, the Corporation tied up with Westart Communications India Pvt Ltd, a garden waste management company, to convert tender coconut shells and tree branches and logs into useful products. “We have set up five plants across the city – Chetpet, Sowcarpet, Perungudi, Alandur and another one is being set up in Kodungaiyur. Each plant can process 80 tonnes per day,” said Satish Kumar, head of administration of the company.

While the shells of tender coconuts are converted into coir and pith blocks, the wood is converted into briquettes. “The coir pith blocks are used for agriculture purposes as they have high water-holding capacity. The briquettes are usually used as bio-fuel for boilers,” said Rijesh Kumar, operations manager of the company. He said 80 tonnes of wood can produce 50 tonnes of briquettes.

“Usually we get 4.50 tonnes of tender coconut shells every day. This will help produce 2.5 tonnes of coir pith,” said Mr. Satish

400 tonnes of wood waste

After Cyclone Nivar, the Perungudi plant received 130 tonnes of tree waste. 80 tonnes were received in Sowcarpet, 100 tonnes in Chetpet and 60 tonnes in Alandur.

“The GCC wanted to keep the city clean of debris and convert waste collected into useful products as soon as possible,” explained Mr. Satish.