Sand will be easily available at lower prices

Bengaluru: Karnataka government would ensure availability of sand easily at a lower price, state Mines and Geology Minister Murugesh Nirani said on Wednesday.

This announcement was among a slew of measures the Minister made to ensure hassle-free supply to the common man and meet the demand-supply gap.

Also, he said his department was making several structural reforms. Uniform price should be maintained for sand transportation in gram panchayat limits, and the new provisions would benefit Ashraya and other housing schemes at the gram panchayat-level.

“A sum of Rs 300 per tonne isfixed for extracting sand from pits and ponds. A total of 183 sand blocks have been identified in the state,” he said.

“Royalty fee would be levied on tipper, lorry and other vehicles carrying sand, the Minister said. Sand should be transported only in the jurisdictional limits,” he said.

Transportation of sand from one district to another district would not be allowed without permission, he said. Action would be taken if illegal activities were detected, the Minister said.

A single-window agency has been set up for the first time in the department, Nirani said.

This would help expedite the disposal of applications of industrialists for mining proposals, he said. A Deputy Commissioner would head the committee at the district-level and this would help obtain licences easily and get rid of red-tapism, he said.

The single-window agency would ensure quick clearance of proposals in coordination among Forest, Environment, Revenue and Home Departments, he said. The government aims to collect Rs 3,750-crore revenue in 2020-21, and thetarget is to double the revenue for the next financial year, the Minister said.

A university of mines would be set up on the lines of the National Mines University in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, he said. A mining adalat started for the first time in four revenue divisions and coastal regions of Karnataka would hasten clearance of mining proposals, he added.