Pamba sand rates slashed as auction draws a blank

Thiruvananthapuram: The government has finally realised the futility of seeking exorbitantly high rates for the sand that have accumulated along Pamba river bed in Sabarimala during the floods last year. After the efforts to auction the sand failed to invoke any interest in potential buyers due to high rates, the forests and wildlife department has decided to slash the rates by more than half after getting the government clearance.
The state is likely to lose tonnes of sand, which is a scarce material in the state now, as the department was adamant on auctioning it only at the rates fixed by them, which is more than double the rates fixed by the public works department.
TOI had on May 21 reported how the government’s indecisiveness to finalise a viable rate for selling the sand saw no a single bid for the sand despite holding two auctions. The confusion arose when the forest and wildlife department claimed that the sand that were washed from forests was its property, and the rates could be fixed only at Rs 2,777 per cubic metre of sand, as per their rules.
At the same time, the PWD rates at which the contractors are sold the sand is only Rs 1,303 per cubic metre. Despite holding two auctions and multiple meetings of stakeholders at the government level, the matter was left unresolved. With the monsoon expected any time, rise in the water level in Pamba would wash off all the sand back to the river, the state ultimately losing sand worth crores of rupees.
The department has now slashed the rates to Rs 1,200 per cubic metre, which is now expected to attract potential buyers. The cabinet also cleared providing free of cost 20,000 cubic metre of sand to Travancore devaswom board. The auctioned sand will be removed before the onset of monsoon, and will be allowed to be dumped temporarily at the periphery of forests, near Laha, before being taken for use.