The ban on sand mining in non-coastal regulatory zone areas of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg have been lifted for two years. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has announced that the ban was temporarily lifted on Monday. The lifting of the ban will bring relief to builders in the Indian state of Maharashtra who have been facing a shortfall of sand for construction purposes.
The builders’ lobby has been sharing its concerns over the shortage of sand and how it has affected the infrastructure projects in the city of Mumbai. The ministry of environment and forest had issued a moratorium dated August 16, 2010, and there were subsequent amendments regarding extension of the moratorium up to June 30, 2011.
This was to stay in place till the report of the western ghat ecology expert panel was submitted. However the Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, had announced that the sand mining ban would be lifted in the two districts after his meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan earlier this month.
The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India have said that there has been a rising shortage of sand for construction purposes in the state in the last year and half. They say that a 40% shortage has crippled the building industry.
On the other hand Sanjay Deshpande, chairman of the environment committee of Credai, Pune said that there needs to be a clear policy on sand mining to streamline the license process and make it transparent. The government should help ease the situation by fixing the price for sand, he said.