Sand crisis hits workers

Building construction works by government as well as private agencies have received setback across the district because of scarcity of sand and stone chips despite the state government claim of making these materials at affordable rates. The government decision to sell sand and small stone chips from December 1 completely failed with the result that the sand mafia were making a heyday by realizing hefty prices for these materials from public. They are charging Rs6,800 to Rs7000 for 80cft of sand for which they had to pay Rs2000 per tractor to the men in uniform to allow them free access on the road. “I have stopped construction work midway because of non-availability of sand. The sand dealers are charging three times more than earlier for 80cft of sand,” said Nawal Kishore Prasad, a lawyer’s clerk at Munger court and resident of Shadipur in the town. According to contractor Ramlakhan Prasad Singh, around 10,000 artisans, including masons and daily wage workers, in the district have become unemployed due to non-availability of sand and stone chips. Their families are facing acute financial crisis. Around 100 private contractors have also failed to complete the building construction work due to the same reason.