234 mines to be fully operationalised in two months: Sukhbir

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today issued directions to operationalise 35 more quarries within 15 days, in a bid to rationalise sand prices in the state.
The Deputy CM further announced that 234 quarries will be made fully functional within next two months in order to provide ample quantity of subsidized sand to the people.
Presiding over a meeting for reviewing the provisioning of sand and gravel on subsidised rates, he said Punjab had received clearances from Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for 35 quarries out of which 19 were mechanical mines covering more than 100 acres each.

Agriculture Minister Tota Singh and Industry Minister Madan Mohan Mittal were also present in the meeting.
"These mechanical mines will cut the difference between demand and supply of sand and further lower sand prices in the state," Badal said in an official release.
Forty quarries out of a total of 371, had been commissioned earlier and rest would be made functional in coming months after getting environment clearances from MoEF, it said.

B Purushartha, Secretary, Ministry of Mines said that environment clearances for 234 quarries were in pipeline and are likely to get the green signal soon.
Badal directed the department that quarrying of sand and gravel should be accelerated to increase supply in the market so that prices could come down considerably.

He also asked the Chief Secretary to issue instructions to all Sub Divisional Magistrates to submit daily reports on mining in their areas besides making sure that people get sand and gravel in hassle free manner at competitive rates.
The Deputy CM will personally monitor the availability of mining material to the general public and review the position after two weeks, the release added.