Mining ban jacks up price of sand, stones

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, July 3

In the absence of a mining policy in the state, residents have been forced to pay exorbitant prices for building material. Especially, since the state government ordered closure of stone crushers and imposed a complete ban on all mining activities.

Despite the fact that all types of building material is available in the state, most of it is being brought from Punjab, particularly Pathankot and Hosiarpur, which sell these at very high rates, adversely affecting the housing industry in the region.

The state government has allowed four cement plants in the state to extract lime stone but at the same time, small stone crushers have been shut down, resulting in an acute shortage of sand and bajri.

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that 60 per cent stone crushers had already been closed in the state in the absence of renewal of lease of land and lack of environment clearances. Since then, prices of building material such as sand, bajri, grit and stone have almost doubled.

A number of persons in Palampur who have constructed a house said earlier they were getting 300 cubic feet of sand for Rs 5,500, but now the same was available at Rs 10,000. Likewise, 300 cubic feet grit was selling at Rs 9,500 earlier and the same is available at Rs 6,000 now.

Sanjay Saini, who is running a small-scale industry and is manufacturing cement blocks and checker tiles, said in the absence of raw material, his unit was facing closure. With the import of raw material from adjoining states, he could not compete with the industrial units situated in boarder areas of the state. Therefore, in the present situation, he was left with no alternative except to face losses. There were many other such units in the state which had gone sick because of the rising prices of raw material, he added.

Likewise, civil contractors who had been executing state government works such as bridges and buildings were also worried over the rising prices of raw material. They have appealed to the state government to lift the ban on mining or allow it in specific zones and also restore the lease agreements of stone crushers to make availability of raw material, otherwise no construction company would come to the state or participate in the tender process of civil or other works.