In view of the acute shortage of sand for construction purposes in the state, the ministry of environment and forests recently lifted the moratorium on sand mining in non-coastal regulation zone areas of Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts for a period of two years.
Shortage of sand in the state has risen to 40 per cent in the last one and half years. This was hampering construction of affordable houses, say officials of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai), Pune.
The state government intimated the ministry of environment and forests about this shortage. Sanjay Deshpande, chairman of the environment committee of Credai, Pune, said the shortage was a result of lack of proper licensing process. Besides the increasing gap in demand and supply also helped prices shoot up. The prices that were hovering around Rs 3,000 per brass a year back, have gone up to Rs 5,000 and above, Deshpande said.
Deshpande said that smaller and affordable house projects are the worst affected. A builder cannot decide the future price and is quoting higher price for his finished product. The government should help ease the situation by fixing the price for sand, he said.
Source : commonfloor.com
