Demand to supply sand to people in Chanda dist at govt rate

Chandrapur: Socio-political organization Vidarbha Kisan Majdoor Congress (VKMC) has demanded implementation of new sand policy and providing sand at cheaper rates to people in the district.
VKMC in a letter to district collector pointed out that the Maharashtra government has implemented a new sand policy from this year to stop unauthorized sand mining and to provide sand to citizens at a reasonable price. Accordingly, districts like Nagpur, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Nashik, Hingoli and Bhandara have appointed contractors to excavate and collect sand at depots and sell it to people at Rs600 per brass, VMC stated in the letter.
Sand is excavated from more than 25 ghats including those on Wardha, Erai, Jharpat, Andhari, Uma and Wainganga rivers along with some major nullahs in the district.
The state government has planned 11 sand depots in Chandrapur district and it is government policy to supply sand to citizens registered online at the rate of Rs600 per brass (Rs133 per metric tonne), the organization pointed out and claimed that supply of sand to citizens at government rate has not yet started in Chandrapur.
City president of VKMC Devendra Bele claimed that the new policy will curb illegal sand mining and enhance government revenue. “It will also help poor people constructing homes under government housing scheme,” he said and urged the district collector to look into the matter.