Sand lorry owners seek more quarries, facilities

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners Federation on Tuesday urged the government to increase the number of quarries and the duration of their operation. The federation also thanked Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for regulating the business, that was once “mishandled by the DMK regime”. The representatives of the federation also met Minister for Public Works  K V Ramalingam and handed over a list of demands. Federation president Sella. Rajamani said, “The Minister promised to increase the number quarries to meet sand requirements of the State.” The federation also noted that due to strict implementation of rules and regulations by the AIADMK government, sand prices had come down significantly, and welcomed the recent action in barring lorries registered in other states from loading sand from the quarries.“During the DMK regime, the price of sand ranged between `7,500 and `8,500, but within a short period after the AIADMK assumed power, the price has fallen notably. At present, the price ranges between `3,000 and `4,000. This is possible since we are getting sand from the quarries at the stipulated price,” Rajamani said.At present, as per the Madras HC’s order, quarries were operating for 12 hours a day and only two excavators were allowed to load sand. They requested the government to increase the duration of operations and the number of excavators.“Now, the total demand for sand in the State is 45, 000 to 50, 000 units per day, but we are able to supply only 35,000 to 45,000 units,” he stated.At present, there are 133 quarries functioning in the State. Due to water flow in the Cauvery, only 32 were functioning in Tiruchy.  The federation also demanded that excavators be allowed instead of manual labourers to load sand in the Palar.