JOIN USSand cooperative societies soon:Minister Ramdas
Decisions came by smoothly, and swiftly after democratic participation of some elected representatives voiced their opinions. Sand cooperatives would be formed with local people who were engaged in lifting sand from under water, without any participation from outsiders. They would be storing the sand, which would then be sold to those who submit DD and are allowed the permission to lift sand.
The suggestion, which came from Siddaramaiah, was immediately agreed upon by Ramdas who said district administration is bent upon ensuring the welfare of end users, with an assurance that the customer would get sand within Rs 7000 per load.
Lifting of sand from patta land would be completely stopped, Ramdas said.
Till the time cooperatives are formed, the current sand policy with the system of submitting application and DD to avail sand, would continue. And, sand lorries which ply to Bangalore would be completely stopped since the district is facing problems to procure the required amount of sand.
“Lorries would be fit with GPS to keep a tab on their movement. Colour coding would also be taken up depending on the permit issued to the lorry to carry prescribed amount of sand,” Ramdas said. All the exit and entries to Mysore, which are over 16 such points, would have robust checkpost to keep strict vigil on sand lorries. About five vans of KSRP would be posted along the 56 km of river bed where sand traces are found, in order to avoid sand from being illegally lifted and transported.
A list of prohibited areas from where sand cannot be lifted, would also be released shortly said Ramdas. Siddaramaiah also suggested that apart from colour coding, weighbridges be installed as and where necessary for better monitoring of the quantity of sand transported.
‘Mafia’
Terming sand crisis as some kind of a mafia controlled activity, leader of opposition Siddaramaiah said while illegal mining was rampant in Bellary some time ago, and so was sand mining in Mysore. Tenders should be awarded to those from the district, he said.
MLA Dr H C Mahadevappa said this crisis was an indicator to the future, and it was time that society found an alternative to sand. MLA Sa Ra Mahesh police and revenue department had to pull up their socks to keep the sand menace in check. MLA Satyanarayana said a warehouse for small quantity of sand had to be opened to cater to those who need small quantities of sand.
Deputy commissioner P Vastrad, Commissioner of Police Sunil Agarwal, SP Manish Karbekar, ZP CEO Satyavathy, MUDA commissioner Betsurmath and others were present on the occasion.