Civil contractors plan protest over sand scarcity

Civil Contractors’ Association in Mangaluru said scarcity of sand had affected construction activities in the district and the association will stage a protest, in front of Deputy Commissioner’s office on July 9 at 3.30 pm.

Briefing reporters here, on Tuesday, President Purushotham Kottary said the shortage had affected the ongoing projects and also consruction of houses under various housing schemes of the government. If it is left unaddressed, then it will further aggravate the situation.
The Association has attributed the present scarcity to the government’s sand policy that has placed restrictions on sand extraction as a result of which demand has exceeded supply, he said.

“For the first time in the history, the sand extraction was banned in the district during monsoon from June 15 to August 31, stating that fish lay eggs during the period on river bed. The extraction of sand would destroy the eggs. In reality, we extract sand from the middle of the river and not from the river bed. Hence there is no question of destruction of fish eggs,” he added.

Negligent attitude

“We had alerted the district administration and elected representatives on the shortage of sand that we might face during monsoon in the month of March itself. However, the negligent attitude of the authorities have aggravated the situation. The government had removed the restriction on inter-district transport of sand in the State, which resulted in the transportation of sand to other districts in the state and to the neighbouring Kerala state. Each vehicle carried more than 20-25 tonnes of sand from the district,” he said.

“We had pressurised the district administration to ban inter-district and inter-state movement of sand lorries. Finally, the district administration announced the ban in a meeting convened by District-in-Charge Minister Ramanath Rai on June 6. However, the district administration, mines and geology department has failed to act against those who are engaged in illegal sand mining and  illegal transportation of sand in the district,” Kottary added.

Increasing demand

“The sand traders are selling it at a higher price in other district. Because of the increasing demand, sand miners dig deep in the river to source sand.  This will have impact on environment also,” he said.

If the State government fails to modify the sand policy by removing a few  restrictions in order to ensure availability of sand in abundant, a time may come when all construction activities will halt in the district, he warned. 

“We require fine sand for construction work. The rate fixed by the district administration for 200 cubic feet sand is Rs 3,000. However, it is sold for Rs 8,000. We had impressed upon the district administration on alternative for shortage of sand. Though the district administration had promised to sell the sand retrieved after dredging in the port area, no action has been taken to supply. About 12,000 loads of sand is available in port area,”  he added.