Since, the sand mines that were closed down due to recent heavy rains and the flood situation in the neighbouring Hoshangabad district, people in and around Hoshangabad and the State capital are facing shortage of sand for construction works.
With the shortage of sand mines and the sand, the product is being sold out in the market at higher price. Besides, loss in the income of State Mining Corporation has also been registered.
Official sources said the turnover of Mining Corporation in the last month was around Rs 4 crore, while in previous months, the income of the corporation was around Rs 8 to 10 crore.
Regarding high price of sand in the State capital, a senior officer in the Mining Corporation claimed that the local factor might be responsible for the hike in price.
According to Secretary of Sand Truck Owners Association Vishwabandhu Rawat, cost of one dumper of Narmadanchal sand in Bhopal was earlier Rs 14000, but this has reached to Rs 14750. With this calculation, the cost has increased by Rs 750 per dumper, but now customers are getting 150 cubic feet sand less in the truck. He also said that earlier, one dumper used to have around 500 cubic feet of sand, but now Mining Corporation has reduced its limit to 360 cubic feet.
Notably, the Mining Corporation gets royalty of Rs 2.50 crore from 31 mines of Hoshangabad district. Around 665 trucks of sand are transported from these mines per day. Besides, the Corporation provides shares from the royalty to the district administration.