Day after imported sand sale opens, just 4 buyers register

CHENNAI: Tonnes of

Malaysian

sand, which had been lying idle at

Tuticorin

Port for nearly a year since it was imported to meet the shortage in the state, have virtually found no takers. A day after the government opened the online

sale

of the sand, a mere four bookings have been recorded. Though the Public Works Department (PWD), the sole authority allowed to market imported

sand

in the state, reduced the waiting time of lorries from seven days to just one day, the construction sector does not seem enthused.

Tamil Nadu State Sand Lorry Owners' Federation president S Yuvaraj attributed the poor response to three major factors, particularly the quality of the sand. “The government has been consistently maintaining [including in the Madras high court] that the sand imported by a private agency from Malaysia to Tuticorin was sub-standard that cannot be used for construction purposes. This has raised doubts in the minds of the general public as well as developers,” he said.

The exorbitant prices of imported sand was another reason keeping prospective buyers away. “Enquiries with developers in Trichy and surrounding areas revealed that purchasing the imported sand at rates fixed by the government was unviable,” he said, alleging that the easy availability of river sand in parts of the state, mined illegally with impunity, was also dissuading people from exploring the new option.

Cost is a major factor. While the state government fixed Rs 9,990 per unit as the

price

for the imported sand, one unit of river sand sourced from state-run quarries cost just Rs 650 per unit. R Panneerselvam, president of the Federation of Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners Coordination, charged that the imported sand could also have lost its relevance as it had been lying in a yard of V O Chidambaranar

Port

in Tuticorin for nearly a year. A geologist asserted that the quality of river sand would remain intact, except for the superficial layer attracting saline deposits, but prospective buyers appear to remain sceptical.

PWD secretary S K Prabakar did not response to queries regarding the lukewarm response for bookings for the imported sand.