Udupi: Deputy Commissioner of Udupi district Priyanka Mary Francis, said on Tuesday, October 23, that the district administration has written to the state government to bring about suitable amendments to the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994, so that local gram panchayats got the powers to issue permits for sand extraction.
In a press release issued here, DC Priyanka Mary Francis said that this was one of the demands put forth by the district lorry owners’ association while holding talks with the district administration, on October 22.
The association had demanded that the present system of calling tenders for sand extraction at the district and taluk levels should be stopped and the powers must be vested with the GPs as it was in practice five years ago.
The administration has written to the government to reduce the limits of eco-sensitive places in the CRZ areas in Kundapur and Byndoor taluks. The government had also been requested to reduce the area of sand blocks identification to a minimum of one acre in the non-CRZ areas in the district.
As per another request of the association, a letter had been sent to DC of Dakshina Kannada to allow sand to be transported from DK to Udupi district as per rules of the sand policy.
The association had requested for sand blocks in CRZ and non-CRZ areas to be identified and sand to be extracted from both of these areas simultaneously.
The media release said that the administration had sought one month’s time for the implementation of the same.
Assn sets one-month deadline
Meanwhile, the District Lorry Owners’ Association has set a deadline of November 21 to the district administration to solve the confusions pertaining to sand extraction in the district.
The Association members, who held a meeting with the DC earlier, said that the DC assured them of holding a high-level meeting of officials and other stakeholders to solve the problems pertaining to sand mining at the earliest.
The association has said that they will wait for the deadline and if the district administration fails to resolve their issues, then they will intensify the protest.
Suvarna said that the association had demanded to give permits for CRZ and Non-CRZ areas be issued simultaneously.
He said that many pockets in CRZ areas in Kundapur and Byndoor taluks had been declared as sensitive areas and the administration was likely to provide for extraction depending on sand blocks available in the non-CRZ areas in these two taluks.
