“Currently there is need for sand, especially in the construction industry, and there have been 30 sites identified from where sand can be extracted. Of course people involved would have to get licenses but it should be allowed,” he said.
Last week the chief minister had met with Union Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar and Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar on various issues including mining. Referring to sand as being extracted and not mined, Parsekar said the need was to recognize the industry as being a manual one and lacking machinery.
“Unlike iron ore mining where there is machinery used in the extraction, sand can’t be called mining because there is a lot of manual labour that goes into taking out the sand,” he said, talking about nets and shovels used in scooping sand from river beds.
The practice of sand extraction, currently illegal, usually involves a canoe in shallow waters that extracts sand that is used by the construction industry.
