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Sand price up manifold in Chennai
Posted on: 16/Mar/2017 3:10:42 PM
Due to severe shortage of sand, the construction activities in Chennai city and suburban areas have to a grinding halt.
To continue construction activities for new houses as well as renovation of old houses, people have to pay an excessive price for sand.
The sand quarries which were operating in Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram areas have all been closed 3 years ago.
During the recent times, sand for construction activities was brought from Vellore and Villupuram areas. As quarrying sand in that area has also been banned, now sand has to be procured from the distant Panruti and Kattumannarkoil areas.
As the sand quarries operating in Vellore and Villupuram had closed for 15 days, a very severe shortage of sand is prevailing. This has led to manifold increase in sand price. Sand which was sold at Rs. 14500 earlier, is being sold at Rs. 19500.
The President of the Lorry Owners Federation, Mr. Yuvaraj, explained in this regard that there has been a severe shortage of sand in Chennai city and suburban areas following the closure of the sand quarries in Vellore and Villupuram areas.
To procure sand from distant areas like Pantuti and Kattumannarkoil, 5 days wait is required, Further, they refuse to sell sand for lorries from outside their district.
Due to the prevailing shortage of sand, some traders have started mixing sea sand and Silicon sand with sand and sell. 2 unit of sand, which was sold at Rs. 12000, is now sold at Rs. 14000.
On the other hand, sand in large quantities is moved from Tamil Nadu to the other states of Kerala and Karnataka. However, they hesitate to sell sand to Chennai city. This severe shortage of sand has affected construction activities by a large extent.
It is imperative the state government should take control of this situation to initiate activities for better distribution of sand and also reduce the excessively high price of sand.
