Dredged sand: Procedural flaw hits sand sale

Malappuram: The cumbersome formalities to buy low priced purified sand from the state’s first dredged sand refinery in Kuttipuram have left the customers in lurch. The stringent measures of the online sale have turned away several buyers from buying the construction grade sand available at lowest price compared to sand mined from rivers. 

Though the refinery run by Rajadhanni Mineral, a private partner of the project, has produced 5,000 tonnes of purified sand from the dredge waste taken out of Ponnani harbour during the past three months since the commencement of operation, the Ports department could only sell 320 tonnes of sand. The production too has come to a halt after the stocking capacity has reached its maximum.

“Stringent measures for the sales have turned away several buyers from buying the refined sand. This should be made offline for the benefit for common people,” P .A. Latheef, a promoter of refinery said.    

A buyer has to first apply online for the sand at www.portinfo.cdit.org and upload documents of building permission and Aadhaar with less than 50 KB file size. After this step, a slip will be generated and the customer has to appear at the office of the Port Conservator in Ponnani in person with all original documents for verification. Then the customer has to pay the amount to SBI account after verification. Once the payment is done the customer will be given a token and date of delivery. Final pass will be provided by the Ports office at KINFRA Park in Kuttipuram for the delivery. The process takes at least three working days and constant travels between Ponnani and Kuttipuram. There allegations that the officials creates hurdles in the sale which in turn helps rock sand lobby and promote sale of other alternatives.

Meanwhile the Ponnani Port Conservator V. V. Prasad said that those who applied online can directly come to the sales point at Kuttippuram with all relevant documents and sand will be delivered soon.