Quarrying ban: Lorry owners to meet Tamil Nadu CM

Chennai: In the wake of Supreme Court staying the order of Madras high Court order banning the quarrying of sand in the state, lorry owners in the state were left shocked and announced that they would soon meet Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

Responding to the issue, law minister C.V. Shanmugham said that the issue would be taken up with the state for suitable necessary action. Admitting that the construction and realty sector will be hit, the law minister said that the state will hold consultations with the legal experts on the issue to ensure that the sand is available for the public to construct houses and also look into others options left before the state.

“We have asked for time to meet the Chief Minister at the earliest and submit a memorandum to protect the business of sand lorry owners. Besides the quarrying issues, the lorry owners are also affected because of the GST and toll prices,” Sukumar, of Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Association told reporters. The lorry owners are also affected because of the recently introduced e- billing system as the drivers are not used to the new technology, he said.

It may be noted that the sand lorry owners had earlier demanded the state to import quality sand from abroad and regulate the manufacture of M-sand to meet the demand from realty sector.

According to official sources, the state is likely to brainstorm the issue in a couple of days as availability of sand had also affected the infrastructure projects in the state. “We agree that the river and ecology has to be balanced and are in the process of exploring new avenues”, an informed government official said.