MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, June 23: Going by the state of affairs of the Jharkhand government in matters related to the sand crisis, the industry feels that the acute shortage in the state seems nowhere near resolution.
“The government should be answerable for the grim scenario. The acute sand shortage is having enormous economic fallout. All construction works in the state have come to a halt for the last 2-3 months,” said Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) President Dheeraj Taneja.
Taneja said that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ban on sand mining coupled with no effective measures by the state government has raised the sand price by 4-5 times and has also resulted in illegal sand mining in the state.
Officials at the Ranchi Smart City Project, too, on condition of anonymity, said that the work has been hampered and that they do not know when normalcy will be restored.
On being asked about the scarcity of sand creating hurdles in government and private construction activities, Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (JSMDC) Managing Director Ameet Kumar said, “Only the excavation of sand is banned but not its transportation.
“As of June 10, 17 lakh cubic feet (cft) sand is stocked in the 170 stockyards across the state. Those who want sand can contact the stockyard dealer,” he said.
Irrespective of the official stand, the industry is facing a sharp shortage of sand and so is the workforce engaged in the construction industry as they are not finding work for the last couple of months.
“If you need just one truck of sand it’s difficult to collect it from the site,” said Taneja. “As a chamber we are trying all kinds of efforts including talking to neighbouring states but we cannot say for sure that it will work as it’s a cumbersome process with several police stations on the way that may create issues,” he added.
Similar feeling was echoed by Ranchi Sand Truckers Association Secretary Dilip Singh. “There is a lot of fear among sand truckers regarding transportation of sand from the neighbouring states. The pre day requirement of sand in Ranchi is 2,000 Hyva trucks. It has been completely stopped. People engaged in the sector are having tough times.”
