Sand crisis hits realty hard

Chennai: The sand bubble has finally burst. Sand quarrying has come to a near standstill in the state. Sand lorry operators from here who went all the way up to Thanjavur have been returning empty-handed since last week.

Construction workers here are cooling their heels for want of sand whose cost is estimated to have skyrocketed to Rs 18,000 from Rs 4,500 per two units (Rs 626 per two unit is the price fixed by government at the quarries).

The beeline of trucks that saw quarries in far off Karur, Ti­r­uchy and Salem teeming with activity even after the ban imposed in Kancheepuram has disappeared.

Wonder why? The lone contractor who co­n­trolled both loading and stock yard sale in the state had literally wound up his activity, removing all his mac­hinery from almost all the quarries, apparently, bringing sand supply to a naught.

While some sand lorry operators close to the cartel are content with the artificial dem­and, several others in the business are gladdened by government ending the reign of the don of sand business from Coimbatore.

And the state has none but only itself to blame, for, the cartel it allowed to monopolise the business six months since sand sale nationalization in early 2003,  has now dared to create an artificial demand to continue its good run.

Truth whatsoever, this could be a real bles­sing in disguise if the state government ma­kes good use of the prevailing situation by eliminating all contractors and directly selling sand henceforth, which also includes loading and stock yard.

Proposing this idea is  Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners Federation S. Yuvaraj who says, “The state will get more revenue than what it gets from Tasmac if it sells sand directly.”

“We are even ready to pay over Rs 1,000 per two units, instead of the stipulated Rs 626 if the government sells sand directly,” Yuvaraj pointed out.

“Quarrying came to a gr­inding halt without the government closing the quarries because there was only one contractor and he had taken away all the mac­hinery as soon as the government terminated the contract,” compla­ined A.M. Mohan, pre­sident Karur District Sand and Tipper Lorry Owners Association.

First, the cartel won the loading contract and then the sto­ckyard contract thro­ugh 38C of Mines and Minerals Act which all­o­wed them to narrow supply only to lorry operators close to them, Yuvaraj added.

Munirathinam, general secretary of Tam­il Nadu Sand Lorry Ow­ners Association, was among the operators who appealed to the state to reopen the quarries it had closed in Kancheepuram. Acc­ording to Muniratinam, no quarry is open in Kancheepuram, Tiru­vallur, Cuddlaore, Vel­lore and Villu­pu­ram.

However, a senior PWD officer, reacting to the alleged sand crisis said quarrying had been banned only in Kancheepuram district for a year and the rest in other places was fun­ctioning as usual.

Next: Multiple papers in land deals

Multiple papers in land deals

C.S. Kotteswaran & P.A. Jebaraj | DC

Chennai: If you are looking to buy property  in Kanch­ee­pu­ram district, there’s every chance  you could be tak­en for a ride as several fraudulent transactions have come to the notice of the authorities here.

Some plots on Kishkinta Road, in Kaspapuram, and Perungulathur village in Tambaram region have been sold not to one but even two or three buyers, say realtors and those who have had the misfortune of experiencing such fraud in the district.

“Kancheepuram is infamous for dubious real estate documents. On two occasions recently I had to back out of negotiations as the plots in Kas­pa­puram near Tambaram had multiple registrations,” said D. Vijay­akumar, a realtor who foc­uses on Tambaram  and Mudichur.

Properties on the outskirts are more prone to such fraud, according to industry insiders. Tamb­aram revenue divisional officer, Indrajith admits several plots in the area have double and even triple documentation, leading to litigation.\

Bla­ming the trend on misuse of the real estate boom by brokers and a few realtors, he says most times NRIs  are taken for a ride as they try to invest in properties back home.

“To make sure they are not cheated people should stop buying unapproved plots and also cross- check  land records with the local village administrative officers,” he advises.

S.S Sriram, head, SafeHans Realtor, says  cu­s­tomers often ignore the basics when buying pr­operty  either out of ig­n­­o­rance or eagerness to own a piece of  land.

“Checking for 30 years of title or 30 years of encumbrance without a  break is essential. And  if it is a power of attorney transaction the sale amount should be paid  to the owner mentioned in the document and not to the POA,” he underlines, adding that registrations should be done only after checking whether the current seller is the same as the one who bought the property last and the registrar held liable if there is evidence of double documentation.

Next: CMDA’s detailed plan to regulate Velachery growth

CMDA’s detailed plan to regulate Velachery growth

N. Arun Kumar | DC

Chennai: With spiralling growth and mushrooming of new areas in Vela­chery, the Ch­ennai Met­ropolitan De­­­v­e­lopment Authority (CM­DA) has begun to evolve a detailed development plan (DDP) for the locality. The authority has also digitally mapped the en­tire area as part of DDP.

CMDA sources said DDPs were prepared under Section 27 of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act to come up with land use pattern of each and every piece of land and construction in the area.

“Second master plan specifies recommendati­ons at macro level whereas DDP will have details at micro level and it will help development of infrastructure as per the land use of the specific locality,” the sources said.

Pointing out that digital maps prepared by CMDA would be shown to and owners for suggestions and objections, the sou­rces said based on their feedback the DDP would be tabled in the authority and later sent to the state government which would take a final call on the plan. The entire process is expected to be completed within six months.

CMDA had recently com­pleted DDP for Villivakkam and the plan would be taken up with the authority for clearance.

“Owners of the land and building were invited for a meeting to get their comments on DDP and their turnout seemed to be impressive. They (residents) gave us their feedback based on which we had completed the pr­ocess,” the sources added.