The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Don’t use ‘filter’ sand for construction: Lokayukta

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 17, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Don’t use ‘filter’ sand for construction: Lokayukta

Staff Reporter

‘It contains high percentage of silt and chemicals’

— Photo V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Expose: Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde (left) and Upa Lokayukta Patri Basavanagoud releasing CDs on the illegal excavation of earth, in Bangalore on Friday.

BANGALORE: A team of officials from the technical wing of the Lokayukta visit a big area in Mayasandra village in Devanahalli taluk.

Disguising themselves as prospective buyers of sand, they ask the seller: “We want 50 loads of sand … we want to see it.”

The seller takes the officials to one of the many man made trough-like ponds on a 20-acre land. One person is seen there washing the earth excavated from a nearby land. The water from a nearby source is poured with force from a pipe. The silt slurry is allowed to flow down while the separated top layer called “filter sand” is stacked. The owner shows the filter sand which is sticky and is far different from the river sand. “We transport about six loads of sand per day,” a labourer says.

These are the clips of the video captured by the technical team of the Lokayukta in October last week after visiting some of the illegal earth excavation sites in 11 villages of Devanahalli taluk in Bangalore Rural district.

This was done following a report in a Kannada daily about the activity thriving despite Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde directing the Revenue, the Mines and Geology, and the Police departments to stop such activity.

“We are showing these clips to make the government machinery to work faster and address this issue of public safety,” Mr. Hegde told presspersons on Friday.

Deep pits

The videos show massive pits created in open private and government lands.

“Some of the pits are nine metres deep and very close to villages,” Mr. Hegde said and added: “These look similar to craters found on the moon.” One such pit in Ramanagara has been dug so deep as to expose the foundation of a bridge. Such an activity had led to cracks developing in several houses and on roads in the villages.

“The large pits that are formed pose a great danger to people during the rainy season. Three children drowned after getting stuck in the quick sand of the artificial water pool formed in the pit,” Mr. Hegde said.

Officials, including the Principal Secretary (Mines and Geology), who saw the video clips on Thursday said they were unaware of the activity, Mr. Hegde said.

Taking a serious view of the activity, Mr. Hegde ordered an inquiry into the illegal excavation that was causing “irreparable damage to the land”.

He said he would look into the role played the Revenue, Mines and Geology and Police officials in the activity.

“I am going ahead with the inquiry despite Revenue and Mines and Geology officials promising to take action within a week,” Mr. Hegde said and added, “We have waited for a long time.”

Mr. Hegde asked people not to use the filter sand for construction of houses and other buildings in the city. The filter sand contained high percentage of silt that had large percentage of chemicals which had corrosive effects.

Dangerous

The use of such sand in construction was dangerous as it affected the reinforcements used in concrete works. It might lead to development of cracks in structures, thus reducing its compressive strength and life. People in the villages should also stop such illegal activity as it was hazardous to their life.

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