Centre gets tough on illegal mining, sale of sand

New Delhi: In a drastic move to check illegal mining and sale of sand, state governments would be made the sole authority for trading in this natural resource. Moreover, legal action would be initiated against the landlord as well as the owner and driver of the vehicle on which illegally mined sand is transported. These stringent provisions have been envisaged in the latest guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

As per the new guidelines, sand can be purchased only through the online portal of the government by producing the receipt of the money remitted as price. It has been proposed to collect fine from consumers who buy sand from illegal markets.

The guidelines have suggested two methods for controlling the price of sand. The government can fix the uniform price for sand purchased from any stock yard in the state or can fix the price based on the market factors. The guidelines point out that fixing a uniform price will ensure control over the market and price.

Tracking of vehicles

It is also suggested to transport sand only in vehicles which have been registered with the state government. Global Positioning System (GPS) should be installed in all vehicles transporting sand. (GPS is a satellite-based radio navigation system that provides geographical location and real-time information to a GPS receiver anywhere.)

Estimating likely sand demand

Measures to estimate the demand for sand should be ascertained by assessing the cement sales, states another proposal in the central guidelines. The illegal sale of sand should be identified by comparing the sale of sand with the sale of cement in each district.

The guidelines have also pointed out that the decision of Kerala government's revenue department to conduct mapping and sand auditing in 20 rivers as a model that other states can replicate.

Private parties too for dredging

Sand mining has been banned in rivers in Kerala for a long while. So far only public sector companies have been engaged in such dredging operations. However, after the floods in the last couple of years, it was widely suggested to remove large deposits of sand from river-beds to increase the depth. The tender process for removing sand and sediments from the rivers has already been initiated. A clause in the tender says that the company which wins the bid should sell the sand through auctioning. This means private firms too would enter the fray.