K. Raghupati Bhat, MLA, said on Tuesday that sand removal would begin soon in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas in Udupi district.
Speaking to presspersons here, Mr. Bhat said that the decks for removal of sand from CRZ areas had been cleared by the district administration after a gap of about two years. The permits of 179 permit holders to remove sand had been cleared. As of now, sand removal had been permitted in areas between Kadekar-Padukere and Udyavara-Padukere. This sand was enough to meet the requirements for about a month. But as soon as sand removal was done in these areas, new sand bars would be identified and sent for approval of the Karnataka State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA) so that sand removal could be taken up here.
“Our aim is to make three units of sand available to people at a cost of ₹5,500. The sand removed in the district will be for use only in the district,” he said.
The bathymetry survey conducted earlier in the district had identified the existence of 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of sand. This included 14,000 metric tonnes in Kallianpur and 40,000 metric tonnes in Uppoor. The sand bars in Havanje and Barkur had still not been identified.
Mr. Bhat said that it was necessary to start removal of sand from the non-CRZ areas near vented dams in the district and 101 traditional sand removers should be permitetd for this. The Gujarat government had come up with a solution on this issue.
A team of officers and elected representatives would visit Gujarat to study the solution there and would submit a report to the State government. “We are trying to have a separate sand policy for the three coastal districts in the State,” he said.
The district administration had also cleared the proposal for removal of silt at Baje dam. It would be taken up in two stages – from Baje to Puttige and from Puttige to Shiroor. The Sand Bazaar App of the administration would be used in transporting sand from the dam to the stock yard to be constructed nearby, Mr. Bhat said.
Yashpal Suvarna, Sharath, BJP leaders, Satish Kundar, leader of fishermen community, were present.
