The State government on Friday extended the ban on sand quarrying in Kancheepuram for another year. The decision is likely to deal a blow to the construction industry, which is struggling to recover from rising prices of raw material.
Kancheepuram Collector V.K. Shanmugam warned that criminal proceedings would be initiated against those who violated the ban.
The ban was imposed on November 13, 2013 by the then Collector, K. Baskaran. “The rate of a cubic feet of river sand is Rs. 1,000 a unit (100 cft), but it is supplied to the user in Chennai and its vicinity at Rs. 5,000 due to the cost incurred in transporting it from Vellore and Villupuram districts,” said R. Sivakumar, chairman, southern centre of the Builders’ Association of India.
( With inputs from K. Manikandan and K. Lakshmi )
