Despite repeated raids, confiscating of vehicles and imposing penalty, the sale of filter sand which is a banned by the High Court, is rampant in many parts of the district.
Collecting sand from any nearby waterbed is just a few hours task. Moreover it doesn’t not require investment as whoever is having a tractor can jump into this business. The modus operandi is that they dig mud from the waterbed, filter it putting a mesh with water available in the tank/ canal/ river and lift the sand that remains after the mud is washed away. Ordinary sand has to be brought from Andhra as it is abundantly available with the rivers merging with sea in many parts. This activity was more at Patancheru, Sangareddy, Jinnaram and Toopran areas.
“These operations start late in the night and end up within hours. By the time we reach the spot we find only traces which show that sand was filtered and lifted. It’s getting difficult to catch the operators,” said a revenue officer.
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Though the properties of filter sand is unfit for good construction, many people do not know the difference between filter sand and sand collected from river areas. “Despite the arduous procedure of cleaning the mud to get filtered sand, some mud particles remain in the sand. The presence of mud in the sand affects the binding properties with cement, but people cannot differentiate between the two variety ,” said Mr. Papa Rao, Mining Officer (Sand).
“Though rock sand is a good replacement for filter sand in Telangana State and the government has to promote this extensively.
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As of now 10 rock-sand crushers are working in the district and we hope that the new policy envisaged by the government would give a clear direction in this regard,” he said.
The Department has registered about 30 cases and imposed a penalty of Rs. 9 lakh on illegal sand miners in the past six months.