The Puducherry government on Tuesday unveiled a new sand import policy to facilitate construction activity in the wake of shortage of the key raw material in the union territory.
Under the policy, the ‘Puducherry Import of Sand, Transportation and Storage Rules, 2018,’ individuals or companies can import river sand and sell it to the public, an official release said.
The policy would also facilitate taking up of the central government’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the Union Territory.
The government said that importers should register with the department of revenue and disaster management and possess valid registration certificates to import and sell the sand .
Applicants should submit the forms seeking registration at the office of the special revenue secretary along with a demand draft or pay order for Rs one lakh at Rs 1,000 per tonne of sand, the release said.
The port at Karaikal (an enclave of the union territory) has made all the necessary arrangements to facilitate the import, it said.
Meanwhile another official press release said that Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, while speaking at the 28th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council in Bengaluru, mentioned about the Puducherry Pollution Control Committee having issued orders for import of one million tonnes of sand every year from abroad.
Source: Press Trust of India