Friday, January 24, 2020

M-sand units come under the scanner

PWD to take action against manufacturers who do not have quality certification

24/01/2020, K. LAKSHMI,CHENNAI

The Public Works Department is considering severe action against m-sand manufacturers who are yet to get approval for quality of material.

With the availability of river sand becoming limited, more consumers are turning to m-sand in the State. It is emerging as an alternative to river sand, and contributes to nearly 70-80% of the supply, according to sources in the PWD.

Though the number of m-sand manufacturing units have proliferated in the past few years, complaints about the sale of substandard quality of sand continues in several places. In a bid to curb the production of poor quality sand, PWD had asked the manufacturers to register themselves for approval.

The State has a demand for about 32,000 truckloads of sand. At present, m-sand is bridging the gap in the shortage of river sand, and nearly 28,000 truckloads of m-sand are being supplied.

So far, PWD’s assessment committee has certified 216 m-sand manufacturing units for the quality of material produced. Manufacturing units must apply for quality approval to the PWD within 30 days of operation. PWD had insisted that m-sand be sold only after certification is obtained. It had announced a few weeks ago that action would be initiated against those manufacturing m-sand without quality approval. However, it has received just 70 fresh applications from the manufacturing units.

The m-sand policy, which aims to promote sales and put in place regulations against production of poor quality m-sand, is under scrutiny by the State government, the officials added.

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