With collusive bidding by the "mining mafia" thwarting Punjab Government's attempts to auction 13 sand quarries in the state, the government has decided to re- auction these.The government also proposes to make amends in the mining policy to ensure that the re- auction sails through.

After the Punjab Cabinet approves the re-auction of the quarries at a Cabinet meeting scheduled for January 28, the Punjab Industries Department proposes to increase the earnest money to be deposited for participating in the auction, raise the reserve price of each of these quarries and have a say in calling off the auction without assigning any reason, in case collusive bidding is suspected.

Severe drought conditions have led to drying up of the river

The Bharathapuzha is a trickle. Severe drought conditions and drying up of the river have virtually brought it under the control of the sand-mining lobby. Hundreds of truckloads of sand are collected from the river bed in blatant violation of rules. The authorities have so far failed to initiate any action to stop the indiscriminate mining of sand. A few officials who had sought to take action against the ‘sand mafia’ had been physically attacked. The government took no action to provide protection to them.

The Punjab Industries Department’s claim that it was set to rake in Rs 234 crore through the auction of 22 sand quarries across the state has turned out to be a pipedream. Having basked in the glory of raking in huge revenues for the state by auctioning its sand quarries with all environmental clearances, the department was in for a shock when just two successful bidders came forward to deposit the bid amount. The state thus received just Rs 11 crore.

Sources in the Industries Department informed The Tribune that they had received 50 per cent of the bid amount from just two successful bidders. While Rs 9 crore has been received from the highest bidder for Parchian Biharipur quarry in Ludhiana, Rs 2 crore has been received from the bidder for Gag Digara quarry in Jalandhar.

8 quarries fetch Rs 101 cr against reserve price of Rs 4.02 cr

High bidding may lead to higher sand, gravel rates. The first e-auction of sand mines, having environmental clearance in north India, today generated a lot of interest among mining contractors from across the region. The auction was held for eight quarries — three each in Jalandhar and Kapurthala and one each in Mohali and Ludhiana — spanning over 337 acres of land. Against the Punjab Government's reserve price of Rs 4.02 crore, the quarries fetched a record Rs 101.09 crore.

Sand rates may not fall much as state removes cap on selling price

The Punjab Government has removed the cap on the price at which sand and aggregate (sand and gravel) can be sold by the sand mining contractors to the general public. As the government gears up for e-auction of 23 sand quarries across the state beginning tomorrow, consumers can expect some relief from the escalating prices of sand and aggregate.

Ferozepur, January 6: Scores of stringent measures undertaken by the local administration to check illegal mining of sand have failed to produce desired results as the process continues unabated i

IVRCL proposed to undertake mining at two places in Sonebhadra District on river bed of the river Son

The Ministry of Environment and Forest has rejected infrastructure giant IVRCL Ltd's two sand mining projects in Uttar Pradesh due to improper documentation of mining area and environmental issues. IVRCL proposed to undertake sand/Moram mining at two places in Sonebhadra District on river bed of the river Son, a major river in central India. "Based on the information furnished and presentation made before the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for mining project, the committee recommended the rejection of proposal ...," the EAC said in its order.

KARWAR: While the sand mining and transport lobby is keen to get the Karnataka government to resume the extraction and transportation of sand to Goa, there is resentment from some quarters in Karwar over the resumption of the sand trade to Goa.

Addressing a press conference at the Government Rest House here, Advocate B S Pai warned that residents of Karwar would strongly oppose the resumption of sand supply to Goa.

KARWAR: Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar on Wednesday remained noncommittal on demands to resume the sand trade from Kali River to Goa, stating that he had to discuss the issue with senior officials.

Addressing a large gathering at Tagore Beach, here, after inaugurating the new bus stand and laying the foundation stone for many projects at Karwar, Shettar said: “It is difficult to take any immediate decision on the resumption of Kali River sand transportation to Goa, as requested by Fisheries, Science & Technology Minister Anand Asnotikar.”

As many as 47 sand mining spots in the two creeks and four rivers of Thane district have been identified to analyse the environment impact of sand dredging operations and guide the authorities to a