State slips on new sand policy

PWD not geared up for new regime; mining comes to standstill

The government introduced the policy in the State since April 1. Sand is being mined in about 8,614 acres spread over 1,610 blocks across the State.  Earlier, in accordance with the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994, sand mining lease was awarded on a contract basis for six months, through public auction.

Temporary permits were issued on payment of Rs 250 as royalty per truck load. After the High Court banned the issue of temporary permits a year ago, the government resorted to auction each block separately. The system raked in Rs 25 crore in the form of revenue to the state coffers.

More teeth

Since both the systems failed to tackle illegal sand mining, the government amended the Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994 to provide more teeth to the sand policy. The new policy, modelled on the lines of the one in Tamil Nadu officially came into effect on April 1.

However, sand mining has come to a standstill as the new policy has not been given effect to. This has dealt a severe blow to construction activities in the State and with increasing demand, has led to illegal sand mining. Under the new regime, sand mining has come under the Public Works Department. The responsibility was vested with the Mines and Geology and Revenue Departments hitherto.

The onus of providing basic facilities at sand deposits is now on PWD executive engineers of respective districts. According to the new policy, all checkposts should be computerised and equipped with CCTV cameras. A sum of Rs 750 should be collected for issue of permits.

Quality and price

The primary objective of the new sand policy is to ensure availability of quality sand to people at affordable rates and ensure a minimum of Rs 100 crore revenue to the government. However, even after a month, there are no signs of implementation of the new policy.

“The PWD is still not equipped to implement the new policy as a result of which sand mining has come to a halt in the State. The Department has submitted a proposal to the chief minister saying that the new policy would be implemented after June 15 and that the old regime should be continued till such time,” said Mines and Geology Department Deputy Director Sonne Gowda.