নির্ভীক বাংলা,পাণ্ডবেশ্বর
Construction work has practically come to a halt for the last four months due to the sand crisis. As a result, hundreds of masons, construction workers and tractor owners in Pandaveshwar area have become jobless, it is alleged. In this situation, representatives of construction workers and tractor owners submitted a letter to the Pandaveshwar Block Community Development Officer (BDO) on Tuesday demanding the supply of sand at fair price by the government.
As a result of the protestors' complaint and the administration's strict action against illegal sand extraction, most of the illegal sand business has stopped. But apart from this, there is also a shortage in the supply of legal sand. Their claim is that at present it is costing around Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 per trolley to buy sand legally from the river bank. As a result, it has become difficult for the common people to carry on with the construction work and various construction projects including housing schemes are being disrupted.
A protesting mason said that due to lack of regular work for the last four months, it has become a problem for him to run his family. Many workers are in extreme financial crisis as their sources of income are cut off. He expressed fear that if there is no prompt government intervention, the situation will get worse.
In this regard, Gopal Sarkar of Pandaveshwar said that a representative group of masons, construction workers and tractor owners of the area has raised the issue of sand crisis with him. He said, the matter basically depends on land and land revenue. Nevertheless, considering the problems of the people of the area, he assured that he will bring the matter to the notice of higher authorities.
Note that it was not possible for this report to independently verify the claims of the protesters regarding the causes and effects of the sand crisis.
