Now, buyers can book sand online

Buying of sand will soon go online in the State. The State Public Works Department is introducing a software wherein both individual and bulk buyers will be able to book sand online and it will be made available at the specified date and place.

Announcing this to reporters, Public Works Minister H C Mahadevappa said the software will have a dashboard with district-wise information on the availability of sand.

People in need of sand can fill in an online form.

An acknowledgement gets generated online and it can also be received through Short Message Service.

The person who books for sand supply also need to mention the registration number of the vehicle that will be used for transportation.

If own vehicle is not available, then one can select among the registered transporters on the website. Payment can also be made online using the Net banking service, he said.

District-level monitoring

The cost of sand will be fixed by the district-level monitoring committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner, depending on the production cost.

And buyers will be charged the same price.

But the cost of transportaion is not fixed by the government. Instead, the buyer has to fix it personally with the vehicle owner.

Sand can be booked at the local PWD office or BangaloreOne or KarnatakaOne kiosks, the minister explained.

Three months to go

The new system, he said, is most likely to come into effect in about three months.

A Gujarat-based firm, Narmada Fertiliser Company, is developing the software. Besides, all district-level committees, Road Transport Authorities, kiosks and checkposts have to be integrated to introduce the system, he said.

Lease management

This apart, the PWD has introduced an integrated lease management system and Special Security Permit Paper (SSPP) to prevent illegal mining and transportaion of sand from June 1.

SSPP will have 11 different security features, including a bar code and hologram.

It cannot be duplicated and transporters will get it soon after paying the royalty, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said.

 There is a huge gap between availability and requirement of natural sand in the State.

Hence there is a crisis. There is a need to promote the use of manufactured sand.

A study by the IISc has proved that manufactured sand will give better strength to the building than natural sand.

The government will encourage stone crushing units in the production of manufactured sand, he added.