Sand lorry owners in the State have demanded that the sale of sand be carried out online, along the lines of the system in place in Telangana, arguing that such a move would enhance transparency.
Welcoming the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to take control of loading and stocking in sand quarries, the members of the Tamil Nadu State Sand Lorry Owners Federation stressed that the government should move sand sale online to avoid middlemen.
The federation’s president, S. Yuvaraj, suggested that instead of seeking a demand draft, which could be misused, the government should implement a system that enables lorry owners to book sand loads online. Moreover, sand lorries should also be registered online. The federation demanded a limit on the number of loads of sand that can be extracted by each vehicle from a particular quarry. It also suggested a separate colour for sand lorries.
At present, four units of sand are priced between ₹50,000 and ₹60,000 owing to severe shortage. Around 35,000 sand loads are needed on a daily basis across the State. “As quarries are not functioning, several lorries transport sea sand now,” said Mr. Yuvaraj, adding that the government should appoint four civil servants and 10,000 workers to operate the quarries in the State.
In order to curb illegal sand quarrying, the State government should declare river banks where quarries are not being operated as prohibited areas for sand lorries. Even vehicles with a national permit should not be allowed to transport sand as this often leads to illegal transportation of the resource to other States, he said.
Calling for lorries operating along State borders to be monitored using GPS equipment, he said, “We are willing to pay the same amount remitted to stockyards earlier for each load to increase the revenue to the government.”
The federation wanted the government to operate quarries through direct sale to help them tide over the sand crisis.
