TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The construction industry in the state is presently in a trough. The sale of residences in the Rs 60 lakh and above category has dropped dramatically. This however has not resulted in builders dropping rates. Many hope to weather out the “storm” by hanging in there. The inability to reduce prices is due to the high cost of construction. One of the reason is the fluctuating cost of sand. Sand is important in the construction of a building. However in Goa the ban on sand mining has put a spoke in the wheels so to speak.
The ban on sand mining may be well intentioned and much required but it has had a deleterious effect on the industry. Desh Prabhudessai, President of the Goa unit of CREDAI said the ban was the right thing to do but it certainly affected the industry.
He said “Projects were getting delayed and more importantly it was increasing the cost of construction. This would be passed on to the customer by various builders.”
The cost of a truck of sand is presently marked at Rs 1400 and just after the ban it increased to Rs 2000. Asked how many lorries were required for each project s builder who did not want to be named said that for 1000 sq mtrs the builder would need 50 trucks. While another builder claimed he would need 100 lorries for a 500 sq mtr project which was a three storey building. Sand he said was mixed with broken stones which were vital for the construction. Asked where he was getting the sand he smiled and said that he would just inform the people on the site to procure the sand and it would be done. He said he had no idea where the sand was procured from. An answer given by Desh Prabhudessai who said he had no idea where the sand was coming from. An answer received from several builders who also said there were not aware where it came from. Earlier in the year this paper had reported on this situation in great detail. Sand is undoubtedly an important component for the construction industry and with the state facing a severe shortage of sand the cost of construction increased thus forcing the industry to increase prices.
It was decided that river sand mining projects with mining lease area greater than or equal to 5 hectares but less than 25 hectares would be have to be categorized as ‘B2’. This meant that these projects would be considered only if mining activity was to be done manually; depth of mining restricted to 3m/water level, whichever is less.
None of the builders in the state were aware of for that matter CREDAI as how much sand was consumed by the state every year for the construction of the various buildings. Builders in the state especially from the south used to procure sand from Karwar but this was stopped after a ban was placed on it. The practise had resulted in the Karwar administration calling for an environmental clearance on the alleged pollution to the river Kali. Although the transportation of the highly favoured Karwar sand to Goa was banned three years ago, the sand transportation indirectly found its way across Polem border, thereby benefitting the real estate lobby in South Goa.
It can be safely said that being a builder operating in the state required nerves of steel.
