Soaring sand prices affect housing projects in Tarn Taran
THE SAND EARLIER AVAILABLE AT ₹1,200 TO ₹1,500 PER 100 CUBIC FEET HAS NOW INCREASED TO ₹3,500 TO ₹4,000 PER 100 CUBIC FEET
TARNTARAN: The dream of owning a house in the state has become far fetched with the increasing sand prices. The sand earlier available at ₹1,200 to ₹1,500 per 100 cubic feet has now increased to ₹3,500 to ₹4,000 per 100 cubic feet. The sand prices have soared to 300% in last six months.
The Congress government had conducted an auction of 102 mines, out of which 89 were sold, on May 19 and 20. However, the auction did not turn out to be fruitful as the sand prices did not change.
Out of the 8 mine sin the border district, only one mine at Jalloke village was auctioned. Owing to that, the Tarn Taran residents were forced to buy sand at a higher rates from other districts.
“The auction amount compared to previous auctions remained high due to open bidding,” said mining department general manager Bhola Singh Br ar .“The department has asked some bidders to sell the sand on controlled rates.But most of the bidders are not bound to provide the sand on genuine prices as they have paid more price during the auction,” said Brar. “Proposals have been sent to auction seven mining spots at the Beas and Sutlej river banks,” he said.
Harpreet Singh, who is constructing a house at Tarn Taran said, “Before the assembly elections, Captain Amarinder Singh had promised to cut off the sand and gravels price in the state.Four months have passed and the prices have increased even more than that during the SAD tenure .” He said ,“Due to the high prices, it has become difficult to complete the construction.”
Labourer Sukhchain Singh said, “Sometimes there is no work due to non availability of sand in the market, owing to the increased rates.” “The government should auction all the remaining mining spots in the district immediately. There should be restrictions on the bidders over the selling price,” said social worker Harikrishan Arora.