Tamil Nadu govt sets 1,000 per unit as basic cost of sand

14 Jan 2022 CW Team

The Tamil Nadu government has set 1,000 per unit as the basic sand cost and introduced guidelines to supply sand fairly and transparently.

The water resources department had allowed 16 lorry quarries and 21 bullock carts' sand quarries, which had environmental clearance (EC), to operate.

The additional chief secretary of the water resource department, Sandeep Saxena, said that about 63 lorry quarries and eight bullock carts' sand quarries would be allowed to operate according to the existing protocol.

Manufactured sand (m-sand) replaced river sand in recent years. The current regulatory order is marking the return of river sand into the construction industry amidst the allegations from environmentalists that m-sand exploits the earth.

The order instructed the authorities to prioritise online bookings of sand from the general public and said that there would be central real-time monitoring of sand depots and quarries to prevent pilferage.

Saxena said that the facilities would have CCTV cameras with 24/7 live streaming and real-time monitoring of all shunting vehicles with geofencing in the centralised control room in Chennai to prevent pilferage and monitor quarries works.

The online booking of sand by the general public will take place from 8 am to 2 pm, and lorry owners can book between 2 pm to 5 pm, depending upon availability.

The construction sectors are open to using river sand quarries. However, the government is offering cubic feet of sand at Rs 10. S Ramaprabhu, the state secretary of the Builders Association of India, said that the government must ensure that sand is available to the general public at a nominal price.

He added that the transportation cost of sand should not exceed Rs 25-30 per cubic foot of sand.

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