Bullock cart sand mining resumes in Trichy district

TRICHY: Sand mining resumed in the Cauvery river at Keelamullaikudi in Trichy district on Tuesday for radio frequency identification (RFID) tag-installed bullock carts.
On the first day, the public works department (PWD) allowed 327 bullock carts to load sand. The operation commenced at 7am and continued till 5pm.
G K Ramar, district president of Sand Bullock Carts Owners Association affiliated to the CITU, thanked Trichy collector S Sivarasu for allowing them to resume sand mining operation. The association had requested the collector to allow them resume mining.
“It has been two months since sand mining was stopped in the wake of lockdown. We didn’t have any income for two months. The resumption of sand mining operations gave us a new hope,” said Ramar.
Over 14,50 bullock carts in Trichy east, Trichy west, Srirangam, Thiruverumbur, Manachanallur and Lalgudi have already been enrolled with the PWD. The department would allot the slot for taking the sand. The PWD would also send an SMS to the registered mobile numbers of the bullock cart owners. The SMS should be shown to officials at the quarry for loading the sand. It would take four days to five days for the bullock cart to get another load of sand. Each cart is allowed to take 15 cubic feet of sand for Rs 105.
The PWD is tracking the bullock carts with RFID tag to avoid misuse.