CHENNAI: Want to book a lorry load of sand? Log in to the Tamil Nadu government’s dedicated website www.tnsand.in and get yourself registered first. Better still, download the mobile app ‘tnsand’ and complete the registration process. Lorry owners too can use the facility.
The app and the website, released by Chief Minister ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswami on Wednesday, will be functional from July 1 to facilitate easy procurement of sand at reduced prices. In fact, from July 1 you can purchase sand only after online registration, according to an official statement.
After registration through the app or the website, the consumer or lorry owner may load the sand from the quarries at the specified time allocated to each consumer, avoiding long queues.
This move comes amidst complaints from sand lorry owners who at a recent meeting said that the waiting period for loading sand from quarries went up to a week, resulting in losses by way of daily wages for drivers and helpers.
Speaking in the Assembly, Palaniswami said that in around 10 days, payment for the purchase of sand may also be made online. Referring to the recent shortage of sand, the chief minister said new quarries would be set up in addition to the 29 already in use to ease the gap between demand and supply, adding that an average of 6,000 loads of sand were being supplied in a day.
Sand quarries in the State remained closed after a Madras High Court order directing the Public Works Department not to allow mechanised quarrying, resulting in escalation of sand prices throughout the State.
In May, the State government announced that it would take up sand quarrying, storing and selling at cheaper rates to put an end to illegal sand mining.