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CHENNAI: Southeast Asian countries can become a happy hunting ground for sand-starved Tamil Nadu as Malaysia and Cambodia offer river sand at one-third the price prevailing in the state.

With sand scarcity putting brakes on construction activities in Tamil Nadu, a leading association of builders has taken baby steps to import sand from these two nations for costs ranging from Rs 35 to Rs 40 per cubic feet. Sand mined locally is now being sold at Rs 120 per cubic feet in the state.

The Builders Association of India (BAI) is holding talks with a private firm in both the countries to import river sand. BAI has about 12,000 builders as its members across Tamil Nadu. BAI's southern centre honorary secretary S Ramaprabhu said river sand from Malaysia would come in handy to overcome the current crisis in the state where sand prices touched record levels. “The reality is that quality river sand is not available even though buyers are ready to pay Rs 120 per cubic feet. Against this backdrop, importing sand will help to make the availability of quality river sand for constructions at affordable rates,“ he told TOI. The firm, he said, has offered to export 2 lakh tonnes of river sand every month.

“We can also import upto 6 lakh tonnes per month, as two more agencies can be roped in for importing sand from Malaysia. This can meet the demand of Chennai to a certain extent with an advantage of reducing the exploitation of sand mined from our rivers,“ he said.

The association has opened the channel of communication with Cambodia also for ferrying river sand. “The construction material would be available for a cheaper price, which is pegged at Rs 35 per cubic feet,“ he said.The average daily demand for Chennai is approximately 60,000 tonnes with one load of river sand (2.5 units) is marketed at Rs 35,000.

The idea is not entirely new. A few years ago attempts were made to ship river sand from Cambodia to Tamil Nadu. However, it failed as the vessel carrying sand could not offload sand in Chennai due to extraneous factors.

Ramaprabhu said there were precedence of cement being imported from Korea in 1980's to defuse its price. It is learnt that the neighbouring Karnataka has taken an initiative calling those interested in supplying sand from abroad, he added. “If the Tamil Nadu government can pitch in, the cost of river sand can be further reduced from the proposed Rs 40 per cubic feet (from Malaysia),“ he observed.

Noting that BAI is discussing the modalities with the Malaysian firm, he said, a team will visit Malaysia to examine the quality of the river sand, after a final decision on importing sand is taken.

BAI further said importing river sand from overseas is the lone available option to protect the rivers here. At present, only two sand quarries are operating in Tamil Nadu, offering hardly 1,200 loads daily, as against the daily demand of 25,000 loads in the state.

