Chennai: In what could be a significant move to ease the sand crunch for construction activity which was halted for a long time now, water resources department (WRD) confirmed to DC that they have received approval to open 40 new quarries in Tamil Nadu.
Of the 40 proposed quarries, 21 are expected to be opened in the last week of March or by the first week of April, said officials. Three quarries each in Tiruvallur, Vellore and Villupuram, two quarries each in Nagapattinam and Cuddalore and eight quarries along the Cauvery belt would be thrown open to meet the sand crunch.
Currently, the state is receiving 1,500 loads of sand per day against the requirement of 20,000 loads per day. The opening of 21 quarries would raise the supply to 6,300 loads per day.
River sand agents and members of sand lorry associations said this would make sourcing sand for the city much easier and has numerous other benefits.
“Previously, we were transporting sand to Chennai from Tiruchy or Chidambaram. Diesel prices would spike the sand marginally. Now, a quarry is going to be inaugurated at Uthukottai, which is only 60 km away from Chennai and the place is also equipped with a Stockyard, due to which the prices will plummet,” said Tamil Nadu State Sand Lorry Owners’ Association president, S. Yuvaraj.
R. Panneerselvam, president, Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry-owners Co-ordinate Welfare Federation concurring to his views, added, “The construction work has been halted owing to sand shortage, adulteration in the Manufactured sand (a substitute of river sand for concrete construction, produced from hard granite stone) and most importantly, skyrocketing of sand prices. Currently, the price of river sand per 200 cubic feet (one load) is '26,000 and once 21 quarries are opened, the price will reduce by at least '8,000. This would also solve the other two issues hindering construction activity.”
Talking about the recent development where the state government has invited bidders to import sand, the industry players said it won't work out as they are inviting a tender for 548 crores to import 30 lakh tons of sand, but they said the money would be paid only after the sand is sold - not really an attractive option for suppliers.
According to real estate records, already, 1 lakh jobs have been lost in Tamil Nadu alone and 1 crore square feet of construction work is delayed. Rs 10,000 crore worth of investments is affected which have resulted in serious losses for developers and customers.
