Date | June 07, 2017:

The Karnataka government's proposal on a separate sand mining policy for the coastal districts has been hit by a sandstorm, with three departments -- law, finance and mining -- taking objection to it.

The government had mooted a separate policy for Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts, following pressure from political leaders, who have been favouring preferential allocation of sand mining blocks as against auctioning. Those favouring a separate sand policy argued that sand mining had become difficult and prices started skyrocketing in the coastal region after the National Green Tribunal cancelled extraction permits in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), which includes these three districts. They maintained that traditional sand miners have been affected and, hence, a separate mining policy for non-CRZ areas in coastal parts is required.

Several coastal delegations had met chief minister Siddaramaiah in the last three years and pressured him to formulate a separate policy. Subsequently, a cabinet sub-committee headed by law minister T B Jayachandra was constituted to look into the issue. During initial deliberations, the idea was favoured and a committee of officials set up by the cabinet sub-committee recommended allocating 25% of the sand mining blocks to traditional sand miners in the three districts.

But when the proposal came up for cabinet clearance a fortnight ago, the dangers of having a dual sand policy came to the fore and stopped the government in its tracks. While the mining department insisted that sand blocks be auctioned in a transparent manner across the state, the finance department saw a loss of revenue to the state exchequer if market forces aren't allowed to determine the allocation of sand mining blocks. The law department warned that preferential allotment of sand blocks in the name of traditional sand miners would be in contravention to the Supreme Court's 2012 judgment in the 2G Spectrum case.

Sources in the law and finance departments told TOI: "The current sand mining policy provides for auctioning for sand mining blocks. But since sand is a lucrative business in the coastal districts because of high demand in Bengaluru and Kerala, sand mining cartels patronized by a few politicians demanded the government have a separate policy in order to bypass the auctioning system. But nowhere in the country does any state have dual sand mining policies. Moreover, we do not want a repeat of the 2G Spectrum case with regard to sand mining here."

Based on this, officials have suggested the government not to opt for preferential allocation of sand mining blocks to mostly aides of politicians, instead, give priority to transparency.

Admitting that the proposal has been put on the back burner, law minister T B Jayachandra said, "A decision could not be taken in the cabinet as several clarifications had been sought on the issue. We will re-examine the proposal after a thorough legal scrutiny."

Reasons for opposition:

- Sand policy cannot be bifurcated for coastal regions and other parts of the state
- Allocation of sand blocks should be through auctioning and not on choice
- There is no clarity on the profile of the traditional sand miners
- Legal complications on the lines of 2G Spectrum allegations could hit the government

The Supreme Court, in the 2G Spectrum judgement in 2012, had observed: "The state is empowered to distribute natural resources. However, as they constitute public property/national asset, while distributing natural resources, the state is bound to act in consonance with the principles of equality and public trust. Constitutionalism must be reflected at every stage of distribution of natural resources."

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)