Inferior m-quality sand has flooded city markets, which could affect construction.
What’s it about? Lorry owners and civil engineers have said the poor m-quality sand would affect the construction of new buildings. The State Sand Lorry Owners’ Association said not even 10% of the 360 crusher units in the city follow the rules. Hence, uncertified m-sand reaches all construction sites.
- The rules formed by the state government years ago haven’t been implemented. It’s unclear which department checks the quality of the quarries and sand supplied.
- The PWD hasn’t conducted quality checks. Poor quality m-sand could mean a building built with this won’t withstand an earthquake measuring 4-5 on the richer scale.
Who said what? S Yuvaraj of the stone and sand committee of the All India Motor Transport Congress said the Tamil Nadu Crushed Stone Sand Rules should be enacted. He said there’s no provision to check the supply of the m-sand from Andhra Pradesh. One PWD official said the rules would be implemented soon to curb the supply of inferior m-quality sand.