Made Of Sand

India is importing river sand to satiate the growing demand of its construction industry and to keep soaring sand prices in check. But imports alone will not suffice without effective implementation of regulations and promotion of alternative construction materials. An analysis

- Ishan Kukreti

OCTOBER 14, 2017 was a symbolic day for Tamil Nadu, and in some ways, for the entire country. That day Anna Dorothea arrived at Port V O Chidambaranar, formerly known as Tuticorin port, and brought the country’s first consignment of imported river sand. It was loaded with more than 55,000 tonnes or 1,850 truck-loads of sand from Malaysia’s Sungai Pahang riverbed. “We were flooded with orders within hours of unloading the shipment,” says a jubilant Vijayaraj of MRM Ramaiya Enterprises, the sand importer. All the orders were from construction companies from the state as well as from neighbouring states where businesses had taken a hit due to shortage of the seemingly abundant natural resource.

Sand is crucial in the production of cement as well as for making concrete. But not all kinds of sands are suitable for construction. In deserts, where wind has a free play, sand grains are too round to stick together. Sea sand is better, but its salt content does not work well with steel in reinforced concrete. This makes river sand a prized as well as endangered mineral (more on this later).

Vijayraj says within days of Anna Dorothea’s arrival, his company bagged orders for another 700,000 tonnes of imported river sand. But his euphoria did not last long. On October 25, as MRM Ramaiya was transporting sand to its buyers, six of its trucks were detained in Kanyakumari by the state police. A case was registered against the drivers for transporting the mineral without mining operation licence as mandated under the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concessions Rules, 1959 (TNMMCR ). MRM Ramaiya also received a letter from the port chairperson saying that the company cannot transport sand until it obtains all the required permissions.