SRINAGAR: Ongoing development projects in J&K, particularly in Kashmir, are set to hit a dead-end as construction material has almost dried up, with contractors saying that raw material such as sand and gravel is hard to procure and escalating costs of the material are compounding the crunch.
The supply chain continuity, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Contractors Coordination Committee, has been shaky for the last two years as the administration has not been able to implement its new policy of designating mining areas for extracting raw material.
This has not only hampered construction work in the government-financed projects but has also pushed the existing mines and stone crushers to closure, for lack of environmental clearance or other permissions.
The committee’s president, Ghulaam Jeelani Purza, told Kashmir Reader that this unavailability has also diminished prospects of the works called for tendering under NABARD XXVI which need a huge quantum of raw material.
Purza said that contractors would have grabbed this opportunity to bag tenders worth several hundred crores of rupees, for projects across the valley, but they are handicapped by the lack of supplies and almost all the raw material is currently being sourced clandestinely.
“It seems as if we are the ‘wrongdoers’, as no tipper or truck operator assures us of supplies and what is sourced is delivered stealthily, due to fear of fines or seizure of vehicles,” Purza said.
The problem is affecting not only development works in Kashmir but also in Jammu, where contractors face a similar quandary, Purza said.
“Many are forced to source raw material like gravel and sand from neighbouring Punjab, where one gets the material hassle-free by paying royalty to the government at the time of purchase. Truckloads are obtained with ease,” Purza said.
The contractors’ body feels that in Kashmir, even with enormous resources at hand, they are not able to procure raw material only because the authorities have not acted on time with their policies.
Many of the truck and tipper drivers are reluctant to carry material as many have been booked by the police as well as by the Geology and Mining Department, the prime government agency to identify and designate raw material sources.
According to Purza, closure of mines has snatched jobs of many and has added to the financial burden of contractors in times of Covid pandemic. Price escalation has wiped any hopes of profits.
In the last two years, the cost of sand has almost doubled. While a tipper of 150 sq ft cost Rs 7,500 two years ago, today its cost is around Rs 15,000. Same is the case with gravel of different grades, not to talk of soil, which has almost disappeared because no tipper operator is willing to carry it.
The crisis, according to the committee, will have severe ramifications on the ongoing season of development works. The raw material in various districts has already been exhausted, the committee said.
“New works are bound to be hit as no contractor will venture into work that demands input of raw material in bulk,” Purza said.
Traditional mines that fed the raw material to several crusher units in Pampore and adjoining areas have been closed for good and those in Bandipora and Baramulla too have witnessed closures, escalating the price of various stone aggregates (bajri).
The availability of sand, according to the committee, is not sustainable as many operators have been barred from carrying out extraction from the Jhelum river bed and its tributaries in the valley. Outsourcing the work to non-local contractors has not worked, as the government has decided to carry out extraction through traditional methods, fearing environmental degradation from use of machines.
Purza said that the authorities need to take some firm decisions at the earliest to not only ease the supply situation, but also bring down the costs, so that contractors do not suffer losses.
The government, on its part, has been pushing hard during the past decade to commission work on a long list of “languishing projects”. It seems it did not foresee that even the new projects will come to a complete halt because of its policies.

Reader correspondent