Chennai: With the demand for sand increasing in recent weeks, Tamil Nadu Government on Tuesday decided to open 70 additional sand quarries across the state in its efforts to bring down the price.
Chairing a high-level meeting attended by Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, Collectors and Superintendents of Police of eight districts at the Secretariat, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami discussed the issue of shortage of sand and high price.
“At the end of the meeting, it was decided to open 70 more sand quarries across the state to ensure that the prices go down and sand is available for all,” a senior government source said. He said the meeting also discussed a permanent solution for keeping the sand prices nominal.
The 70 sand quarries would be located in districts like Thanjavur, Thoothukudi and Nagapattinam, the source said, adding that official notification in this regard would be issued in the next couple of days. Industry sources say one truck load of sand is being sold at nearly Rs 20,000 and many construction works have been stopped due to shortage as well high price of the commodity.
The Tamil Nadu Government had earlier this year announced that it would take over all sand quarries across the state in the next three years. It had also announced that it would introduce m-sand in Tamil Nadu.
