BENGALURU: Mines and Geology Minister Murugesh Nirani on Friday said the state government will soon announce a separate sand policy for the coastal Karnataka region. He was responding to Congress MLA UT Khader’s question on delay in announcing a separate sand policy for coastal Karnataka region even after holding several rounds of discussions. Nirani said they are aware of the problems faced by the people due to shortage of sand and also the need for a separate policy to help people of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts in the coastal region.
The minister said construction activities are affected in many parts of the state due to shortage of sand and the government will take necessary steps to prevent such problem in any part of the state.The minister said the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) authority has been instructed to clear 13 sand mounds located along riverbeds coming under CRZ in 2020-21.
The seven-member District Sand Monitoring Committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner will issue temporary permits to 104 applicants to extract sand from 13 sand mounds for one year, he said.MLAs Raghpathi Bhat and Kumar Bangarappa also raised the issue of shortage of sand. The minister assured that sand would be made available to public and sand auction would be conducted as per the rules.