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Raipur. Due to rain, the district administration has imposed a ban on excavation of sand in the sand mines of the district from June 15. This ban was imposed till October 10, now only two days are left for its expiry. Due to the ban on sand mines, till now common people had to buy sand at a very expensive price. 9 to 11 thousand per cart of Hiwa sand is being sold these days for 13-14 thousand rupees.
In the next few days, the ban on excavation of sand in mines will be lifted, but even then common people are finding it difficult to get relief from the increased price of sand this month. The reason for this is non-receipt of NOC from the Environment Department. The Mineral Department has given the mines on lease through tender, but till now the contractors have not been able to get permission from the Environment Department to excavate sand in the mines.
Tender for 13 mines has been done
This time the Mineral Department had floated tender for 13 mines instead of 7 in the district. After the tender, all the mines have been given on lease. Of these, tender for 6 mines was opened in February, while tender for 7 mines was opened in September. Till now NOC has not been received from the Environment Department for any of these mines.
The price will decrease after the start of sand excavation work in mines.
Last time the administration had given only 7 sand mines on lease. Due to less number of mines, excavation and transportation of sand was also reducing, the effect of which was being seen on the price of sand. This time, the administration has increased the number of mines so that sand can be available to the common people at the right price, but when the contractors will be able to legally start the excavation of sand in these mines, it depends on the NOC received from the Environment Department.
Contract for 5 years, one year environmental clearance
The government has amended the rules for giving mines on contract. According to this, this time the period for the mines given on lease has been increased to 5 years instead of 2 years, while the permission given from the Environment Department has also been increased from 6 months to 1 year. In this way, permission from the Environment Department will have to be taken every year.
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