The Hindu Business Line : AP finetunes sand mining policy

Sand auctions will be conducted under the supervision of a district-level committee. No mining of sand in any river will be permitted with the use of Poclainers.

Hyderabad , Nov. 14

The Andhra Pradesh Government on Tuesday fine-tuned the State sand mining policy to make it more eco-friendly.

Following a review of the sand policy, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, directed that sand auctions would be conducted under the supervision of a district-level committee.

This committee will fix the upset price and also demarcate the areas which will be subjected to auction after following the conditions stipulated under the various enactments and regulations stipulated by the Conservator of Rivers.

The Government data shows that there is fall in revenue collection from sand mining over the last five years from 2000-2001. The effort is aimed to stem this, according to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.

Following this meeting, no mining of sand in any river would be permitted with the use of Poclainers as this may lead to over-exploitation of the sand from mines. This in turn is likely to affect the groundwater table. The Government is actively promoting the usage of crushed sand or Rabo sand.

To restrict the indiscriminate rise in sand price, it was decided that the sale price must be declared before issue of auction notification. Further, to curtail leakages, the municipalities concerned would now recover Seinorage Fee on sand from the persons taking up constructions valued at over Rs 1 crore. If they do not seek procurement permit, they would be levied one time penalty, to be recovered by municipalities.

The mining lease will be for two years with 20 per cent enhancement of the bid amount for the second year. The weaker sections housing are exempted from payment of fee. Only Government would be competent to de-notify the area due to any special reasons after the auction notification.

The policy also paves way for creation of vigilance squads who would monitor sand mining and levy penalties in case of violations.

More Stories on : Policy | Mining & Quarrying | Andhra Pradesh

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