Kerala proposes to encourage imports of sand from other States and abroad to tide over the shortage of sand for the construction of buildings.
The State Cabinet on Wednesday approved a slew of measures recommended by its sub-committee to reduce shortages.
Briefing the media on the Cabinet decisions, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said the State Mineral Development Corporation would be entrusted with the import of sand from other countries. Besides, private agencies would be encouraged to import sand from other States and abroad.
Measures would be taken to ensure trouble-free transport of sand brought to the State legally from outside the State.
The Chief Minister said the government would also encourage manufacture of M-Sand. The possibility of mining sand from dams and ports would be explored. Sand mining from forest areas and water bodies including hydel reservoirs would also be permitted. As the first step, mining of sand would be taken up from the Aruvikkara reservoir in Thiruvananthapuram district.
Mr. Achuthanandan said the Chief Secretary Neela Gangadharan would coordinate measures to improve the availability of sand. IAS Officer B. Suman would be appointed as special secretary in charge of sand mining.
