Mangaluru
KPCC spokesperson AC Vinayaraj said that District Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has promised to solve the sand shortage crisis in Dakshina Kannada within a month, and that the defunct Sand Bazaar App will be made functional again.
People may log on to dksandbazaar.com to book sand for the construction of houses and other buildings in the district, once it is relaunched, Vinayaraj said, and alleged that the functioning of the app was stopped by the then BJP government in 2019, to facilitate illegal sand transportation.
The sand bazaar app was introduced by then Urban Development Minister UT Khader in 2018-19, to supply sand for Rs 7,500 per truck. BJP MLAs from the district, who were silent when their government stopped the sand bazaar app, are now blaming the Congress government for the sand shortage crisis. Let MLA D Vedavyas Kamath explain his contributions to ensure supply of sand during the BJP government’s tenure in the last four years. Since the previous BJP government had not taken up bathymetric survey in CRZs and other processes to obtain environment clearances, the district has been facing the sand crisis, Vinayaraj said.
Though there were provisions for sand extraction from CRZs for one year, the then BJP government delayed permits, Vinayaraj said, and alleged that people’s representatives from the BJP were hand in glove with the illegal sand transportation nexus.
