The State Public Works Department (PWD) has been made the sole authority to deal with imported river sand as well as sand brought from other States. It alone shall have the powers of storing and selling such river sand, a Government Order issued said, thereby banning private players from storing or selling imported sand.
Any consignment of sand coming to the State for construction purposes will have to be sold only to the PWD at the rates fixed by the department on a case-to-case basis, according to the government order issued on December 8.
This decision follows the permission given by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in late November for the import of sand from Malaysia on a petition filed by a private firm, whose consignment, subsequent to its arrival at the Thoothukudi port trust, was seized by the police for “want of valid transport permit.”
The government order says the PWD would have the power to refuse any consignment of imported sand that has failed to fulfil the department’s specifications.
No consignment would be permitted to be taken outside the State. For the transport of such sand within the State, the seller or the buyer should have a valid transport permit issued by the PWD.
One of the reasons adduced in the order is that “alternative sources for fine aggregates like imported sand, if allowed into the State without regulation, may pose a challenge to public safety at large, because of substandard aggregates getting into the market, which would lead to poor quality of construction and pose a grave risk to life and property.” The order states that “it is desirable” for drawing up regulations for “the sale of ordinary sand imported from other countries or brought from other States/Union Territories” with a view to meeting “the growing imbalance” between demand and supply in the State and supplement “indigenous sand” for construction.
Quality control
At present, there are 14 river sand quarries in the State and a senior official in the PWD asserts that the department is taking care of issues concerning the quality of river sand mined by the authorities.
Criticising the government action, S. Ramaprabhu, secretary, southern centre – Builders Association of India (BAI), says the government could have imposed a blanket ban on the import of sand instead of laying down “such guidelines.” As regards the apprehensions raised in the government order on the quality of imported sand, he complains that “adulterated sand” is being sold in the domestic market.
A government official points out that the PWD has “no locus standi ” in issuing an order on storage, transportation and sale of imported sand, a matter which falls within the domain of the office of the Commissioner of Geology and Mining or the Department of Industries. Through two of its orders in October 2003, the government had permitted the PWD only to “quarry and sell” sand, says the official add.
