Now, sand is as dear as gold in Hassan

HASSAN: Sand has become as dear as gold following the steps taken by the district authorities to curb the illegal sand mining and its transportation in the last two months.At present one has to shell out Rs 20,000 for a truck load of sand and Rs 8,000 for a tractor load. Statistics available with ‘Express’ show that over 25 per cent of the people have stopped the construction work half-way, following the sudden rise in the prices of sand.Builders are finding it difficult to get the sand in time even if they are ready to pay more. Channappa Gowda, who is building a house at Vidyanagar told Express  that he stopped the construction as the prices of sand increased to Rs 20,000 per truck load.  The contractor is yet to deliver the sand though he had received complete cash in advance a fortnight ago, he added.Along with the restrictions put by the district authority, the brimming Hemavati too has kept the sand-miners at bay. All in all, about 65 percent of sand extracting activities have been stopped in the Hemavati river basin.The number of trucks which transported sand to Bangalore, Mysore, Tumkur and Chikmagalur every day has come down from 500 to 100. The contractors are keen on transporting sand out of the district to get higher prices. A truck load of sand fetches Rs 38,000 in Bangalore.Despite the ban on transporting sand to other states, the contractors transport it in cement bags to Kerala. Sources said that a truck load of sand is sold at `1 lakh in Kerala state. Sources said the state government’s new sand mining policy has not been implemented in the district due to ‘technical reasons.’Consequently, the ban on sand-mining in Hemavathi river basins has not been effective. Sand smugglers are excavating sand from over 30 sand blocks at isolated areas using motor boats.The district authority has constituted a task force comprising of the officials in Mines and Geology, PWD and police departments and set up check posts but the measures have failed to check illegal sand mining and transportation.The district authority has seized over 50 trucks and the tractors and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 for each truck transporting sand illegally.