Tamil Nadu’s new M-sand policy aims to standardise manufacturing practice, ensure quality

All M-sand units shall mandatorily establish a quality testing laboratory at their crusher premises and randomly check the quality of the M-sand produced by them every day and maintain registers, the policy said.

The Tamil Nadu M-Sand Policy, 2023 released by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai on Thursday, March 9, 2023 aims to standardise the procedure for approval for manufacturing units, to prevent damage to river ecosystem by “rationalising the use of river sand in a conserved manner,” among others.

The policy drafted by the Department of Geology and Mining noted that “the rampant sand mining and continuous depletion of natural aggregates have led to the implementation of new environment/land use legislations, which have made river sand a scarce commodity” and hence the Tamil Nadu government considered M-sand/crushed sand production as an alternate to river sand.

It aims to promote zero-waste mining/quarrying in the State and to promote recycling of the coarse and fine aggregates in construction and demolition waste of buildings/concrete structures and quarry waste in the State. The policy has specified characteristics of sources that could be used for M-sand/crushed sand and also the procedure for setting up of units.

“All the M-sand/crushed sand manufacturers shall adhere to the standard manufacturing procedure and use only the Vertical Shaft Impactor (VSI) or such other equivalent advanced technologies to produce M-sand/crushed sand.”

All M-sand units shall mandatorily establish a quality testing laboratory at their crusher premises and randomly check the quality of the M-sand produced by them every day and maintain registers, it said. “No quarry leases will be granted exclusively for manufacturing M-sand/crushed sand”

A single window portal would be developed and maintained by the Department of Geology and Mining for the registration of M-sand/crushed sand units. The policy will be valid from its date of notification by the government.

Minister for Water Resources (also holding the portfolio of minerals and mining) Duraimurugan, Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu and senior officials were also present. A copy of the policy could be accessed in The Hindu portal at: https://bit.ly/3FdSPP9