UP govt okays more licences to store building material

LUCKNOW: Even the battle continues against the spike in Corona cases, the state government has lent a further push to the construction activities by issuing more licences for storage of construction materials. According to records available with the mining and geological department, the number of licences for river bed material (RBM) has recorded an increase from 11 in 2019 to 96 this year, which is a rise of over 700%.
River bed material represents the sediments eroded upstream and transported by the river to be deposited on the river floor.It is essentially composed of coarse and/or fine material, which is considered crucial for carrying out construction activities.
Records show that the issuance of licences for storage of mined material increased from 221in 2019 to 370 this year, which is a rise of more than 67%. Besides, the licences issued for storage of sand increased from 102 in 2019 to 107 this year. Likewise, the number of licences for storage of 'morang' has been scaled up from last year's 108 to 167 this year, which is a rise of over 50%.
In fact, the districts where 'morang' can be stored have been increased from 11 to 16. Most of the construction materials are stored in districts like Jalaun, Banda, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Hamirpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lalitpur, Chitrakoot, Kanpur Dehat and Unnao. The maximum number of licenses have been issued in Jalaun where the storage of morang has been increased by almost three times. The same is true for districts like Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Hamirpur and Jhansi, officials said.
Secretary, mining, Roshan Jacob, said that the volume of storage of morang, a key construction material, has almost doubled in the last one year. She said that the minerals' storage has increased by almost 1.30 lakh cubic meter. "The amount of sand and morang have been stored in adequate amounts during the ongoing monsoon season," she said.
Jacob said that the department has made adequate arrangements to ensure transparency in transportation and storage of construction material. She said that all district magistrates have been asked to put up sign boards in all storage centres, their geo-tagging, issue electronic receipts, and installation of CCTV cameras to keep a sharp vigil.