Shortage of sand, bricks dogs reconstruction in flood-affected south Karnataka

BELAGAVI: Government agencies and private contractors who are involved in rebuilding houses of flood victims in the district are facing a tough time due to shortage of sand and bricks.
According to a report submitted to the government, as many as 1,64,763 houses collapsed in the district in the recent floods and the administration has estimated the loss at Rs 2,997 crores.
Among the damaged houses, more than 55% have collapsed completely. Those who want to reconstruct their partially damaged houses with the help of compensation given by the government are facing the problem of sand and brick shortage. This problem is very evident particularly in Krishna River belt.
A majority of these damaged houses have been built with bricks. The shortage of bricks is due to more than 1,000 brick kilns in the district being damaged by the flood. Kiln owners are unable to restart production as they do not have enough funds.
Siddappa Gayagol, a brick manufacturer from Manjari village in Chikkodi taluk said, “Usually, we start making bricks from Diwali. We use the profit from the previous year to invest in the current year. Since the bricks manufactured this year were damaged before being sold, many kilns may not start in the next season. Even if all goes well, buyers need to wait till to November to get bricks.”
Apart from Belagavi, thousands of brick kilns along the banks of the Krishna in Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts have also been damaged. Hence, chances of importing bricks from these districts are very slim.
Black marketing of sand
After floodwaters receded, lakhs of tonnes of pure sand saturated on the river banks. However, the district administration has not marked sand extraction units to auction them. The marking of sand units is a time-consuming process. The sand units have spread across the banks of the seven rivers that flow in the district. Due to the increased demand, sand which was being sold for Rs 15,000 – Rs 20,000 is currently being sold in the black market for Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per truck load.