Sand transporters in Ganjam resume operations after three months

Berhampur: Construction works, which were stalled for the last three months in Ganjam district due to the strike by truck and tractor owners transporting sand and other materials, resumed recently after the vehicle owners agreed to start transportation following discussion with the district administration.
After thorough discussion, Rs 3,750 was fixed for transportation of six cubic-metre sand for Berhampur, Gopalpur and its adjoining areas, said regional truck/tractor owners action committee president Santosh Sahu here on Saturday.In other areas in the district, the rate would be fixed with negotiations with the vehicle owners.
The rate was fixed after discussion among the representatives of the vehicle owners, sand ghat lease holders, collector (Ganjam) P C Choudhary, regional transport officer Saroj Kumar Biswal, IG of police Amitabh Thakur and SP (Ganjam) Asish Singh on Thursday, he said.
The truck-tractor owners federation had stopped the transportation of sand and other construction materials on March 3 protesting against the district administration's action against them even though they were in possession of Form R, the permit to transport minor minerals from the river ghats.
The district administration has also agreed to start operation of sand ghats near Berhampur which will benefit transporters. There are 64 sand ghats in the district.
The district administration also assured to solve some other demands of the transporters, including time limit to transport materials in the city and providing a list of the sand ghat lease holders.
The transporters demanded exemption of sand, moorum and other construction materials from the purview of the Odisha Minor Minerals Act (OMMA).