Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, July 7
With 43 mines in the state being auctioned for Rs 206 crore yesterday, sand and gravel prices will continue to rise for the next couple of months.
According to the auction, 29 lakh tonnes of material will be available for mining in the 43 quarries. Going by the available material and the auction bids, the cost of material comes to Rs 710 per tonne. Besides, contractors will have to pay district mineral foundation fund, royalty and environment management fund. Add to it the processing charges and the cost rises to Rs 921 per tonne. Thus, a tipper, which carries 30-tonne material, will cost around Rs40,000 to the contractor.
Since mining remains low during monsoon, the prices will further inflate.
AAP leader and RTI activist advocate Dinesh Chadha said to recover their cost and make profit, contractors would mine thousands of acres beyond the contract area, cutting mountains in the process. The government should immediately cancel this anti-people and anti-nature auction and formulate a new pro-people and nature-friendly policy, he demanded, adding that the National Green Tribunal should intervene and reject these auctions.
Figure it out
The Gajujgir quarry of Pathankot district, which has 11,000 tonnes of material, has been auctioned for Rs 9 crore. The contractor will have to pay Rs 2.64 lakh per tipper of mining material
The Chaharpur quarry in Amritsar has 44,493-tonne material and has been auctioned for Rs 8.41 crore. At this price, it will cost the contractor
