Minister says sand will be easily available at lower prices

Karnataka government wouldensure availability of sand easily at a lower price, stateMines and Geology Minister Murugesh Nirani said on Wednesday.

This announcement was among a slew of measures theMinister made to ensure hassle-free supply to the common manand meet the demand-supply gap.

Also, he said his department was making severalstructural reforms.

Uniform price should be maintained for sandtransportation in gram panchayat limits, and the newprovisions would benefit Ashraya and other housing schemes atthe gram panchayat-level.

''A sum of Rs 300 per tonne isfixed for extracting sandfrom pits and ponds. A total of 183 sand blocks have beenidentified in the state,'' he said.

Royalty fee would be levied on tipper, lorry and othervehicles carrying sand, the Minister said.

Sand should be transported only in the jurisdictionallimits, he said.

Transportation of sand from one district to anotherdistrict would not be allowed without permission, he said.

Action would be taken if illegal activities weredetected, the Minister said.

A single-window agency has been set up for the first timein the department, Nirani said. This would help expedite thedisposal of applications of industrialists for miningproposals, he said.

A Deputy Commissioner would head the committee at thedistrict-level and this would help obtain licences easily andget rid of red-tapism, he said.

The single-window agency would ensure quick clearance ofproposals in coordination among Forest, Environment, Revenueand Home Departments, he said.

The government aims to collect Rs 3,750-crore revenuein 2020-21, and thetarget is to double the revenue for thenext financial year, the Minister said.

A university of mines would be set up on the lines of theNational Mines University in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, he said.

A mining adalat started for the first time in four revenuedivisions and coastal regions of Karnataka would hastenclearance of mining proposals, he added.

PTI KSUNVG NVG

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