New sand policy will check rising prices: CM

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said prices of sand will come down in the coming days with the State government putting in place measures to implement provisions of its new sand policy.

Replying to a question raised by Govind Karjol (BJP), Siddaramaiah said the new policy will streamline the mining, transportation and storage of sand thus reducing its price.
Sand prices had hit a record high of Rs one lakh per load with lorry owners going on a strike for nearly a month, he said. The State government will regulate the transport of sand outside the State, especially to Maharashtra and Kerala, by erecting check posts.

The chief minister said the new policy had provision for the constitution of taluk and district sand monitoring committees with environment officers to oversee sand mining activities.

Besides, extracted sand from designated sand blocks would be dumped at spots fixed by the Public Works Department, where it would be auctioned.

There are a total of 1,864 sand mining blocks in the State spread across an area of 17,810 hectares, Siddaramaiah said.