The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India’s A.P. chapter on Thursday offered suggestions to the government to ease sand availability in the State.
CREDAI’s A.P. president Ch. Sudhakar, Vijayawada president R.V. Swamy, and A.P. chairman A. Siva Reddy addressed a press conference in the city, where they said that CREDAI, on behalf of the builders, wants to convey several issues that needed to be taken care of by the government in order to streamline the system.
“The government should focus on public representatives and government employees who see sand as a means of earning,” Mr. Sudhakar said.
“We request the government to begin sand mining at the 270 reaches as early as possible and also take up dredging in possible flood plain areas where lakhs of cubic metres of sand has been deposited due to flooding,” he added.
“Builders appreciate the government’s decision on promotion of robo sand (sand manufactured in quarries) as an alternative to normal sand. The government should also make it mandatory for government bodies to use at least 25% to 30% robo sand in its constructions and on the other hand provide tax rebates and subsidy in power bills to robo sand manufactures,” Mr. Siva Reddy said.
Huge deposits of sand is available in agriculture lands and the government can tap it easily by asking landowners to transport and dump it at the nearest stockyard, he said, adding that it would not only help farmers get rid of the sand but also provide abundant sand for the needs of the construction sector in the State.
The representatives said that the sand cost of ₹490 per tonne is not viable for all transporters, particularly in places where stockyards are closer to the cities and towns.
He asked the government to consider waiving the seigniorage charges of ₹375 per tonne at reaches as it could largely benefit the public in the State.
CREDAI said that it would extend all necessary support to building workers and appealed to them not to consider taking extreme steps due to lack of livelihood. They thanked the State government for its assurances of regular sand supply by the end of November.
