Chennai: After the Tamil Nadu government started online sale of sand in a bid to ease bottlenecks in supply and check exorbitant costs, business-parched private players diverted to sale of gravel, fine sand and other minerals used for construction and the fancy prices have affected the industry players.
They rue that the gravel and fine sand are only given to some private players and the rest are forced to buy it from them at soaring prices.
“Fine sand is bought for Rs 180 per load from the government and it is sold for as high as Rs 50,000. Likewise, clay and gravel are bought for Rs 700 and Rs 400 and both are sold for at least Rs 8,000,” pointed out Tamil Nadu State Sand Lorry Owners’ Association president, S. Yuvaraj.
He further added that dealers are made to run from pillar to post to buy it from the government. “As many as one lakh lorries registered online for the sale of land and an IAS officer has been appointed to look after the issues. In the same way, if government also begins online sale of other material used for construction including gravel and fine sand, there would transparency and the government would earn huge revenue.”
Concurring to his comments, a contractor from Mambalam, K.Viswanath said, “private players get bill for two units and go back with five, also they dig deeper than permissible limits. It is seldom checked. In the case of sand post online service, CCTV cameras are installed everywhere and flouters are nabbed on complaints. Also, private players reduced to a great extent.”
Sand lorry association owners also rued that problems in m-sand still persist. They say that the strength of the sand is comparatively weaker when it is not washed with water, but due to sand shortage builders are going for m-sand, which ultimately makes the building weaker if not monitored properly.
