New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it was willing to purchase the imported sand lying in Thoothukudi port for use within the State.
The state said a committee would meet the representative of the importer on July 11 to arrive at the negotiated price.
Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Tamil nadu making this submission before a Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta, hearing the State’s appeal against a Madras High Court order banning directing stoppage of all sand quarrying activities in the State within six months and restraining the government from opening any new quarries.
Mr. Rohatgi submitted that more than 55,000 tons of sand is lying in Tuticorin Port and the chemical test from various laboratories indicated 'silica’ content though the percentage varied from one lab to another. He said a committee had been constituted to have talks with the importer and the State was willing to purchase it at a negotiated price.
Senior counsel Dhruv Mehta, counsel Ilam Bharathi and Balaji Srinivasan informed the court that a representation had been made to the government for selling the sand for Rs. 14 crores. Mr. Rohatgi said the price was on the higher side but would leave it to the committee to decide the price.
The importer argued that he had a valid license to import sand as per the Government of India rules and he was entitled to use the sand wherever he wanted, including in Tamil nadu.
The State said the petition arose from a dispute raised by an importer of sand who was not permitted to transport imported silica sand. The importer imported the sand against the state’s law and regulations regarding the storage and transportation of imported sand within the state of Tamil Nadu and the court passed directions.
The SLP said the stoppage of sand quarrying in would have a disastrous effect in as much as all the construction activities in the State will come to a complete standstill because of the absence of sand, which is a basic raw material. The High Court has failed to appreciate that the river sand imported from other countries is costlier. The supply of rivers and would considerably get reduced, as it would depend on the handling capacity of the port to stock and evacuate the river sand. The Bench posted the matter for further hearing on July 20.
