Chhattisgarh Sand mining and transportation in river beds and streams are totally forbidden from June 10 to October 15, and are in accordance with the environmental laws during the monsoon season. According to Communist Party of India ML (CPI ML) veteran CPI ML New Democrat leader, the state Mineral Resources Department has directed to all district collectors and mining officers to ensure to put the ban strictly on the basis of an order issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which issued a ban on mining activities in rivers during monsoons.
This means that all permitted sand mines will also be compulsorily closed throughout this time, and only underground operational procedures will be reinitiated after October 15. The sand mines that have even the environmental clearance cannot undertake the excavation and transport processes till the ban is lifted. A number of sand mines without environmental licensure had already ceased before the seasonal ban.
The industry likely to be affected by the ban is the construction industry significantly. Since the supply of sand has been stopped legally, constructors and ordinary consumers will now have to purchase the sand through privately supplied sand, which is supplied at an increased price. In the foresight of the ban, some license holders have already preferred to stockpile their sand in advance. Nonetheless, hoarding of sand illegally and unauthorized mining are the allegations that keep appearing in various areas.
Such maneuvering has been combated by the Mineral Department, which has impounded some vehicles involved in illegal sand mining and transportation, and at other instances, fines have been levied. With the monitoring in place, the problem of unauthorized sand mining has not been eliminated.
As sand is now scarce and costly, it is possible that its future and continuous construction projects, such as roads, house construction, and government infrastructure, will be delayed and more costly as well. The situation is that the general consumer, who may be the home builders, might be forced to pay unnecessarily high prices to access the sand in the market, given that only a little has been availed without any regulation put in place.
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