From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Jan 29: Mines and geology minister Murugesh Nirani has promised a separate sand policy for the coastal region of Karnataka as per the longstanding demand of the people of that region for sand mining.
The minister made the announcement on the floor of the state legislative Assembly on Friday.
While answering the question raised by Congress legislator UT Khader during the question hour, Nirani said a separate sand policy will be introduced to help the people of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts in the coastal region.
“The construction activities are affected in many parts of the state due to the shortage of sand. The government will take necessary steps to prevent such problem in any part of the state,’’ Nirani added.
The minister further said he was aware of the problems faced by the people due to the shortage of sand.
He promised to ensure the availability of sand for the people without further delay.
“Our aim is to supply quality sand with a much lesser price to the people. We will introduce new policies in the department and it’s our priority to supply quality sand to the people at market price,’’ Nirani announced.
The minister said the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) authority has been instructed to clear 13 sand mounds located along riverbeds coming under CRZ in 2020-21.
The seven-member district Sand Monitoring Committee headed by the deputy commissioner will issue temporary permits to 104 applicants to extract sand from 13 sand mounds for one year.
The minister said action has been taken to clear the sand mounds along the riverbeds in CRZ as per the instructions from the union environment, forest and climate change.
The mines and geology department would consider only those having temporary permits to clear the sand mounds of 2011-12 and a couple of years prior to that along the riverbeds in the CRZ, he said.
Legislators Raghpathi Bhat, Nadagouda and Kumar Bangarappa also raised the issue of shortage of sand during question hour and blamed the apathy of officials.
The minister assured that sand would be made available to the public to spur construction activities and the sand auction would be conducted as per the rules.