CHENNAI: ‘Stockyard owners hoarding sand'

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on July 13, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/%E2%80%98stockyard-owners-hoarding-sand%E2%80%99/293599.html

CHENNAI: The South Chennai Lorry Owners’ Welfare Association on Tuesday appealed to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to immediately ban the second sale of sand by stockyard owners who had created an artificial shortage of the building material across the State. 

Briefing reporters here, association general secretary M K Nagappan said, “Influential stockyard operators like Coimbatore-based M Palanisamy and Arumugasamy have monopolised sand sales by using  ‘second sale’ and are plundering the State’s resources.”

Under the pretext of being sand-loading contractors, these persons had taken over six quarries in Nerumbur, Arasar Koil and Vayalakkavur in Kancheepuram, Perittuvakkam in Tiruvallur, Maragadapuram in Villupuram and Kandrakottai in Cuddalore. They  pile the material in their yards and sell the sand at highly inflated prices, he said.

“Even if our vehicles go to these quarries to load sand using proper permits, they are directed to get the sand from these stockyards for immediate delivery.  Otherwise it would take a minimum of three days for a single load,” he said. According to the association, these stockyard owners sell the material at Rs 2,000 per unit against the government’s fixed rate of Rs 313.

The association appealed to the CM to ban the ‘second sale’ practice at once to end the monopoly of influential stockyard owners. The association also appealed to the CM to constitute a special team and conduct a thorough probe to save the lakhs of entrepreneurs linked to the sand trade