The State’s revenue from sand sairat was increased by 124% in 2019-20 compared to the preceding year. As of now, a total of 1,859 sand saritats have been identified, informed an official release.
This was revealed at a review meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy on Thursday. Revenue and Disaster Management Principal Secretary Bishnupada Sethi outlined the issues for discussion. Tripathy directed the department to operationalise all sairat sources within a definite time schedule. “Enhancement of legally operational sources will have triple benefits of ensuring supply of sand for construction sector, containing theft of sand and increasing the collection of revenue,” said he.
Out of 1,859 sand sairats, around 450 have been identified. Of the total, 640 sources have been auctioned for the current year. Tripathy directed to finalise development of i4-MS software for real time monitoring of the sand excavation and transportation and fix timeline for its application.
It was decided to allow inter-State transportation of surplus sands through competitive bidding process. Tripathy further directed to strengthen the enforcement activities for checking the illegal lifting and theft of sand.