3 Sand suppliers to continue ban on Manja sand

Sand Stockiest & Suppliers Union, Dimapur (SSSUD), Sand Stockiest & Sand Suppliers Union, Chümoukedima (SSSUC) and Assam Sand Supply & Truck Owner Association (ASSTOA) have informed that the indefinite bandh on supply of sand from Manja route will continue till the issue is resolved and sand rate “comes to the minimal”.
This was resolved at an emergency meeting held on November 29 ASSTOA office 5th mile. The decision to continue the bandh also comes a day after Karbi Anglong & Dimapur Transporters’ Association (KADTA) decided to resume supply of Manja route sand from December 1 onwards as stated by KADTA president Anil Topo and general secretary Nito Sumi.
Meanwhile, the three associations said that Nito was former general secretary of SSSUD, but joined ASSTOA after he was removed for his allegedly misusing funds. Later, he was also impeached from ASSTOA, they claimed. Therefore, they said such statement by an individual should not be supported or encouraged.
On the KADTA’s query for imposing the bandh, the three bodies said they had clearly mentioned in their November 9 statement that when a truck was allowed to ferry 600 cft per trip, the royalty was Rs. 7000 per trip (Rs. 12 per cft). They said that if at all the authorities ordered to carry only 400 cft per trip, then the amount of royalty should be Rs. 4800.
Questioning logic of hiking the royalty amount to Rs. 13,000 per trip, the three bodies reminded that they have been paying Rs. 12 per cft and the “unreasonable hike” in price was burdening the general public. The said that the issue of rate needed to be resolved as the sand price had shot up to Rs. 60-65 per cft from Rs. 32 to 42 per cft (Dimapur price).
On the claims made by KADTA along with SSMWA and BSMWS that they had requested the district administration and law enforcement agency to ensure free passage of trucks within Dimapur and Chümoukedima districts, the three bodies said no information or official letter was received from the district administration or law enforcing agency. Therefore, they urged them not to misuse the platform.
With regard to the meeting called by KADTA with truck owners and drivers on November 30, the three unions said that anyone who wished to attend the meeting would be doing so at their own responsibility, adding that the such meeting should be call “null and void”.