The online portal of the State government, www.tnsand.in received more than 16,500 hits on the first day of online booking of sand on Saturday.
About 400 persons, mostly lorry owners and drivers, logged on to the portal, www.tnsand.in within half an hour from the time of start of booking. The number rose to 2,500 in the morning and 3,500 in the afternoon.
It crossed 16,500 at 5 p.m. Similarly, a whopping 9,500 persons downloaded the mobile App designed by the State government.
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About 7,500 bookings were made during the day, officials said.
“The online booking has become a hit. The response shows that the owners and drivers are beginning to familiar with the online sand booking system,” a senior officer of sand quarry division of Public Works Department in Tiruchi, told The Hindu .
He said it would take a few more days for people to get accustomed to the online booking. Those who had made bookings, would receive booking orders to their respective mobile phones within a few minutes of booking. There was no need for lorries to wait in queues for hours.
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They would also be sent the loading time to their mobile number when the lorries can go to the allotted quarries.
He added that the system would generate OTP and QR (Quick Response) code before 30 hours from the timing of loading. The OTP number would be valid for 24 hours. If they failed to load within 24 hours, they would have to rebook.
However, the officer said it had been decided to clear backlog at the quarries, where lorries were waiting for their turn to load sand. It would take 3 to 5 days to clear the backlog. Those who booked sand online would be able to load from Tuesday.
Twenty-two quarries were functioning in Tiruchi division that include Tiruchi, Karur, Thanjavur and Nagapattinam districts.
In Tiruchi, quarries are functioning at Kondayampettai, M. Pudur, Manamedu, Seepalapudur, Kariyamanickam, Thiruvasi, Kiliyanallur, Sirugamani, Panaiyakurichi, Viragalur and Alampadi.