Karnataka govt okays new sand policy

Sand in gram panchayat would be sold at ₹300 per tonne, while riverbed sand is fixed at ₹700 per tonne to be sold at urban, inter-districts and other areas. Karnataka minister said a separate authority would be constituted with enforcement and monitoring of any sand mining.

The Karnataka cabinet on Monday approved a new sand policy that is expected to bring down cost of the material and put greater regulation over chances of over exploitation of the resource.

JC Madhuswamy, Karnataka’s minister for law and parliamentary affairs, said the new policy was approved under three categories which would give greater powers to local administrative bodies. (PTI)

JC Madhuswamy, Karnataka’s minister for law and parliamentary affairs, said the new policy was approved under three categories which would give greater powers to local administrative bodies. “We have made it easy to procure sand in Karnataka,” Madhuswamy said in Bengaluru.

Sand in gram panchayat would be sold at ₹300 per tonne, while riverbed sand is fixed at ₹700 per tonne to be sold at urban, inter-districts and other areas. The minister said a separate authority would be constituted with enforcement and monitoring of any sand mining.

The government has identified 183 sand blocks in the state.

The state government has fixed ₹300 per tonne for extracting sand from pits and ponds, HT reported on February 10. These measures, the government has said, is to allow local administration to find a new revenue stream from sand that is mined from the ponds and pits in these regions.

The developments come at a time when illegal sand mining and other activities has seen a rise in recent months in a state which has borne the extreme weather that fluctuates between droughts and floods.

The sight of tractors and other vehicles extracting sand, illegally and legally, from river beds, lakes and other places is common in rural areas of the state.

However, the minister said divers who extract sand will continue to be allowed to safeguard their livelihoods but there will no usage of machinery for the same. He said it would be allowed only in small scale in non-CEZ area but it is illegal to use machinery. .

For rural housing and other government-sanctioned projects, sand would be sold at a discounted price.

The Basavaraj Bommai-led cabinet also decided to approve amendments to the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994, under which the lease period for both minor and major minerals mined in a particular area would be the same, which is about 50 years.

“Along with major minerals, some minor minerals are also being mined in the same areas in several regions of the state. The Centre gives a 50-year lease for major minerals, but for minor minerals the State used to give for 20 or 30 years. So we are now changing it. So, whatever mining is done in a particular area, it will be for 50 years in line with the major mining policy,” Madhuswamy said.