Karnataka CM unveils new sand policy

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today unveiled the new sand policy approved by the state government that provides for a levy of Rs 10 on every cubic metre sand sold to revive the environment damaged by it.
It also allows to levy Rs 20 as an administrative fee at district levels.
Throwing light on the policy, Siddaramaiah said the district corpus would be used for reviving the environment in the sand mining areas as per Supreme Court order, National Green Tribunal and guidelines of the central government on Mineral Rules of 1994.
The policy envisaged setting up sand monitoring committees at district and taluk levels to monitor illegal sand mining which is rampant in parts of the state.

The district-level committees have been given powers including fixing retail prices of sand, Siddaramaiah said, adding taluk committee will identify the sand mining blocks and mining allowed in the blocks through tenders by Public Works Department.
The policy also prohibited usage of mechanised exploitation of sand, Siddaramaiah said.
To prevent misuse of trip sheets, the government had proposed to issue licences on special security paper and the load carrying vehicles are to be fitted with Radio Frequency identity tags, Siddaramaiah said.