The Tamil Nadu government fixed 1,000 per unit as basic cost of sand, and unveiled a set of guidelines to supply sand in a “fair and transparent manner”.
To begin with, the department of water resources permitted 16 lorry quarries and 21 bullock carts’ sand quarries, which had environmental clearance (EC), to operate. Following this, as many as 63 lorry quarries and eight bullock cart sand quarries, which are in various stages for obtaining EC, would be permitted to operate as per the existing protocol, said an order issued by Sandeep Saxena, additional chief secretary of the water resources department.
Till a decade ago, river sand was a key construction material, but it grew scarce about five years back.
Govt to give priority to online booking by public while allotting river sand
Promoted aggressively by the then state government, m-sand replaced river sand a lmost totally in recent years. The present order marking the r eturnof r iver sand into construction sector has come amidst allegations from environmentalists that m-sand caused irreplaceable damage to earth and its exploitation was rampant and unscientific.
The order instructed authorities to give priority to online bookings from the general public for sand and said there will be centralised realtime monitoring of sand depots and quarries to prevent pilferage.
“The existing facilities like IP/ CCTV cameras with 24X7 live streaming and real-time monitoring of all shunting vehicles with GPS and prefixed geofence will be strengthened in the centralised control room in Chennai to prevent pilferage and monitor quarrying activities,” Saxena said.
Only after supplying sand to online bookings by the public – between 8am to 2pm – can lorry owners book sand between 2pm and 5pm depending upon the availability of the remaining sand, the order said.
The construction industry was quick to welcome reopening of river sand quarries, but cautioned the government against profiteering by intermediaries. Pointing out that the government is now offering a cubic feet of sand atRs10, Builders Associationof India state secretary S Ramaprabhu said the g overnment m ust ensure that it was available to the common man at a nominal price.
“The transport charges should not exceedRs25 toRs30 per cft of sand. Otherwise, the intention of the government would be defeated,” he said.
While S Sridharan, chairman of urban development and housing, CREDAI National, said developers a lways preferred river sand to m-sand for plastering purposes, G Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal, an environmental voluntary group, said the g overnment should explore a lternative technologies in the construction sector so that natural resources are not exploited. Illegal smuggling of M Sand and river sand to neighbouring states m ust be eradicated, he said. “If smuggling is curtailed, about 40% of our natural resources can be saved,” he said.
