BENGALURU | March 18, 2016: If you are buying sand to construct a house or any building, make sure you verify the quality of sand properly as many suppliers are straining silt from sewage to get filtered sand. With the increasing number of buildings, sand mafia is becoming rampant in city.
Hundreds of illegal units are mining sand near lake beds, sewage canals, river side and even near borewells across the state. An official from Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner’s office told Express they have identified at least 120 such units. “These illegal miners look for sewage canal or lakes. By using pumps, they take silt water, strain it and get filtered sand,” he said.
The official also said that buildings constructed using this do not last long. “They weaken the foundation and walls, which can collapse any time. This quality of sand is used by builders who construct apartments because filtered sand is cheaper than normal sand,” he said.
The official said it is a huge money-making business. “Each unit can get around 10 lorries of filtered sand every time. Owner spends Rs 10,000 per lorry load (including bribe) and make up to Rs 80,000,” he said.
The DC has the power to levy penalty anywhere from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
Prof Ramesh H N, Professor in Civil Engineering, Bengaluru University said size of good quality sand should be 0.075 mm to 2 mm. This is ideal when mixed with cement and gravel used for concreting. But if the size is lesser, it will either be silt or clay.
A member from Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) told Express that if good quality sand is used, the cost is passed on to the customers.
“In order to make flats affordable, we use Gypsum sand instead of regular sand,” he said.
BAD QUALITY
- Good quality sand should be between 0.075 mm to 2 mm; anything less than this will be silt or clay
- Durability of the filtered sand is less when used for construction
(Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/)