BENGALURU: The State Government is planning to supply sand at Rs 200 per tonne to economically weaker sections, according to the new sand policy being proposed. This is to ensure that the poor get good quality sand to construct houses, said Mines and Geology Minister Murugesh Nirani. “Under the new policy, we are planning to provide sand at Rs 200 per tonne to those who are constructing houses under the Ashraya scheme or any other building within Rs 10 lakh at panchayat limits.
Now, we allow people to source sand from rivers and lake bunds and we have identified 193 places. People can use this only for domestic, and not commercial, purpose,” he added. JDS MLA CN Balakrishna raised the sand issue and alleged that at many places, soil from lake bunds is filtered and supplied as sand. “This sand is not of good quality and buildings constructed with it may collapse easily. There is no one to monitor this,” he added. Nirani replied, “Recently, we suspended two officials for not taking action in a similar case.”