Sand mining in non-CRZ blocks OK, says DC

Sand mining in non-CRZ blocks OK, says DC

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru,March 18, 2016: March 18,2016: DK DC Adoor B Ibrahim has directed contractors who have availed the orders for sand mining in non-CRZ areas, to work in the four non-CRZ blocks in the district with immediate effect.

 Chairing a pre-bid meet at the court hall in his office on Mar 17, Thursday, DK DC said money will be paid to the contractors once in 15 days, as mentioned in the tender terms.

"Sales of sand will be taken up by the PWD - Public Works Department. Provision has been made to collect and transport the sand that would be mined from two sand blocks at Sajipapadu and one sand block each at Barimaru and at Sajipamunnuru. The sand will be stored in the stock yard. The customers are required to pay Rs 625, which is inclusive of a royalty of Rs 403 for one cubic metre of sand. The transportation charges will be separate. Every cubic metre of sand will contain 1.7 tonne sand," DC Ibrahim stated.

"The users must pay the amount to the executive engineer of the PWD through demand draft. The distribution of sand depends upon the availability of sand in the stockyard. Preference will be given to people from the district and to those who are building individual houses. The remaining sand will be transported to other districts. The costs for the sand being transported outside the district will be specific," the officer clarified.

Nineteen blocks had been identified to be within CRZ limits. The number of blocks was reduced to 16, following a study carried out by experts in NITK. Transportation of sand is banned in CRZ area from January 15 and permission will be given only after a green signal from the Environment Ministry and the National Green Tribunal, said Ibrahim.

"Activities that will be carried out within CRZ limits will not be considered as sand mining. It is a process of clearing sand humps in order to facilitate the smooth movement of fishing boats and country boats. After relaxing some of the rules in the previous tenders related to non-CRZ areas, short tenders have been invited for the allocation of 30 blocks. March 23 is the last date to file the tenders. Several rules will be imposed after the tender process," he explained.

The Department of Mines and Geology has been working at installation of CCTV cameras in 30 places, including various check posts in the district, at a cost of Rs 35 lakh, to check illegal transportation of sand, the DC said.

Road repair hurdle

Bidders, who shared their problems with the DK DC, said that there are no roads leading to the allocated sand blocks. "Transportation will be affected as the repair of the road leading to another block is going on," they complained.

The DK DC assured the bidders of directing the officials concerned to halt the road repair work. If the sand mining is not started on the said date, the tender will be cancelled, he warned.

"Complaints have been received that sand mining is being carried out using boats, although the last date for sand mining in CRZ limits, was January 15. As agreed before the district administration, the availers of tender themselves have to call off the boats from rivers, failing which, the district administration will take the boats out of the rivers. The administration will not be responsible to the complaints for any damage caused to the boats in the process," said Ibrahim.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Kumar, PWD Executive Engineer Ganesh Aralikatte and Mines and Geology Department officer Nagendra were present during the meeting.