Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal
Bantwal, July 14: The state government’s drastic hike in red stone fees—from Rs 40 to a staggering Rs 280—has worsened the ongoing sand and stone shortage crisis, forcing citizens into illegal procurement and sparking fresh protests.
Speaking at a BJP-led demonstration on Monday at B C Road, Bantwal MLA Rajesh Naik sharply criticised the government’s failure to simplify sand mining laws or address the rampant shortages affecting construction and livelihoods.
“I plan to meet senior officials in Bengaluru to push for urgent solutions to the deepening crisis of red stone and sand in Dakshina Kannada,” Naik declared. He warned the rising unemployment among labourers could destabilise law and order, blaming the government for failing to appoint competent officers in the district’s mining department.







Bantwal BJP president Chennappa Kotiyan accused the ruling Congress government of gross misgovernance, saying, “This administration has made it impossible for ordinary people to survive.”
Former Bantwal Taluk Panchayat Standing Committee chairman Madhava Mave lamented, “People gave Congress a chance to govern, but instead of easing hardships, they’ve driven sand into the black market. Under BJP rule, sand was available to all; now it’s a scarce commodity.”
BJP state spokesperson Vikas Puttur condemned what he called a “culture of corruption and extortion” within the government, which has made sand inaccessible to the public. He demanded the immediate introduction of a dedicated sand policy for Dakshina Kannada district.
BJP leader Sulochana G K Bhat issued a stark warning: “The government and district administration are toying with poor workers’ lives. If this continues, labourers may follow farmers’ tragic path and resort to suicide.”
The protest drew senior BJP figures including former MLA Padmanabha Kottari, ex-Zilla Panchayat members Ravindra Kambali and Kamalakshi Poojary, constituency secretaries Shivaprasad Shetty and Sudarshan Baj, former district general secretary Ramdas Bantwal, district secretary Dinesh Amtoor, ex-municipal president Dinesh Bhandari, and party members Govinda Prabhu and Hariprasad, among others.