Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Nov 11: The mining department clarified that there is no scarcity of sand in the district of Dakshina Kannada.

The officials of mining department said that 25 sand mining contracts are sanctioned on river basins of the district on non-CRZ areas. Out of them, 24 are still functioning.

The deputy director of mining and geology said, “There is restriction for extraction of sand from June to October 15 due to monsoon. However, during the monsoon period the stockyards of these sand block contractors has 102467 metric tonnes of sand. So far, 27023 metric tonnes of sand is supplied to the construction works of the district. Still, 75444 metric tonnes of sand is available in the stock yards.

“In order to avoid inconvenience for development works, sand contractors are given 30 days of relaxation as per Karnataka sub mineral relaxation rule. There are 16 M-sand units in the district. As much as 336400 metric tonnes of M-Sand can be produced through these units annually,” he said.