Srinagar: Scores of persons associated with sand extraction in Kashmir held a protest here on Monday.
The protest was held under the banner of the Pulwama Sand Extraction Association, in which stakeholders from various districts, including Srinagar, participated.
These aggrieved persons assembled at Press Colony demanding implementation of a royalty system for sand extraction. They said that in absence of any mechanism from the authorities, they are in a lurch.
“There is no implementation of royalty which is hampering the whole process. Our vehicles are fined, and over ten thousand rupees are charged. After multiple fines, our vehicles are seized for weeks. This has led to huge problems for us. We want to pay royalty as per the rules. So far, there is no royalty fee for sand, and we end up paying thousands of rupees, and our vehicles are also seized,” said an aggrieved person from Srinagar.
The aggrieved said that as there is a royalty mechanism for other building materials, and they want the same for the sand extraction. They said that their families depend on this job and they don’t have any other source of livelihood.
“We appeal for proper rules so that we can abide by them. In this way, we are losing money, and our vehicles are getting seized. We have borrowed money and bought these vehicles, and when we won’t be able to do our job, what will we feed our families,” said another protester.
The aggrieved said that they want the implementation of royalty and proper mechanisms so that their livelihood won’t be affected. They appealed to the concerned department to look into the issue and resolve it without any delay.