Sand scarcity hits govt. departments

BANGALORE, 25/12/2013: Strike Struck: Empty Sand Lorry stationed on the Ring Road, at Kadirenalli road junction on the Outer Ring Road, on the fourth day of sand lorry strike called by Sand Lorry Owners' Association, in Bangalore on December 25, 2013. Construction activities in Bangalore and other parts of the State have almost come to a standstill with no supply of sand. Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Has shortage of sand affected even the public works being executed by different departments? Going by the statement of a few officials of different departments, it is certain that sand crisis has hit the public works being carried out by different departments.

At the district-level vigilance committee meeting held here on Saturday, MPs R. Dhurvanarayan and Pratap Simha were shocked to learn that only five-km road was laid and asphalted that too in Varuna (which is the CM’s constituency). They asked why road works were not being taken up elsewhere in the district.

The Executive Engineer of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj had stated that non-availability of sand had discouraged the department from taking up more works.

Officials of the Swacch Bharath Abhiyan and various other departments also expressed their inability to carry out the works and meet the target in the wake of scarcity of sand and they assured the meeting that works would be taken up once sand was made available in required quantity.