Buy sand online through dksandbazaar.com

The Dakshina Kannada district administration has launched a user-friendly web portal and an app for buying sand.

District in-charge Minister U T Khader said the portal ensuring hassle-free supply and transportation of sand is a first of its kind. The web portal and the app is on a trial basis and will become full-fledged next season. It is an initiative to check the artificial sand crisis in the district, he added.

Through the new initiative, the people of the district need not run from pillar to post to get a load of sand. The district sand monitoring committee has initiated the move and the online booking and supply has started from May 20. On an average 35 to 40 loads of sand are being sold.

The web portal is directly monitored by the district sand monitoring committee and involves the customer, transporter and the sand permit holder (Dhakke owner). It is now made applicable to sand available in the coastal regulation zone (CRZ).

Sand buyer can visit https://www.dksandbazaar.com and enter his mobile number to proceed further with the OTP sent to the number. The customer has to provide name, e-mail address and residential address before submitting details on the quantity (3 tonnes, 7 tonnes and 10 tonnes) and quality (coarse, medium and fine) of sand.

The customer can select the source (Dhakke) of sand or let the system select the Dhakke situated nearest to the customer.

Once the order is placed, Dhakke owner gets an alert on their App, and the transporter can pick the order through their App. Later, the transporter reaches the Dhakke and shares the OTP with the Dhakke owner before loading the sand. The customer has to provide the OTP received by him/her to the transporter once the sand reaches him.

Monitoring committee

The sand monitoring committee office gets information of loading of the sand from the Dhakke; the movement of the lorry; and unloading at the customer’s place. Customers also can track the order placed by him online. The district administration has been receiving a good response for the online system of sand transportation. Sand will be available at less price through the system. It will also provide accurate details on the availability of sand and will prevent illegal transportation, Dakshina Kannada DC Sasikanth Senthil S said.

The district administration had fixed Rs 3,700 per 10 tonnes of sand. Transportation charges are fixed at Rs 2,000 up to a distance of 20-km, after which the customer has to pay Rs 50 for every additional kilometer. The customer has to make an online payment.