Centralised system soon for sand distribution in district

District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth has said that a centralised online pass system will be introduced for the distribution of sand from the sand ghats in the district. The system has been developed with the help of the National Informatics Centre. The control room for the pass distribution will function at the Collectorate.

A meeting will be convened at the Collector’s chamber to prepare the final form of the online pass system. The meeting will be attended by the officials from the departments of Irrigation, Mining and Geology, Revenue and the National Informatics Centre.

The district development council meet held last Saturday supported the move. It pointed out that the system would allay the complaints and malpractices related to sand mining.

According to the new system, a pass with a  bar code would be issued after assessing the availability of sand. The applications to procure sand would be received online and the amount has to be remitted in the bank account.

The information on the permitted quota of sand will be given to the panchayats concerned and the applicants. Also, arrangements will be made to avail of the information by way of SMS. The applicants can procure the sand from the bank after obtaining passes from the collectorate.

For each season, the rate of the sand will be decided in advance. The registration fee for one load of sand  is Rs 10.