Mangaluru: Members of CITU and Civil contractors staged a protest in-front of Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mangaluru on Monday to stop sand mafia in the district and to ensure sufficient supplies of sand for construction works.

Speaking to the protesters CITU Secretary Sunil Kumar Bajal said the sand banning move has thrown construction sector into deep trouble and has left poor construction workers jobless. The district administration had imposed a ban on sand mining to protect the water species and to support fishing activities.

The sand thus extracted uauthorisedly is being smuggled to neighbouring states and sold at exorbitant prices, he added. The illegal sand mining activities have been going on unabated in the region, in black market at Rs 13,000 sand available, he added.

The local ministers are not taking any actions against the illegal sand mining despite knowing that illegal sand mining is going on in the region said Construction Workers’ Federation of India General Secretary Yogish Jeppinamogaru.

Nobody bothered about the construction workers and their families, who have been left in lurch due to sand scarcity, He added.