River sand shifting is not that harmful to the environment: EPC construction

With Union Government’s decision to move river sand from its actual place and utilize the same in the EPC construction of National Highways, numerous EPC giants like Dilip Buildcon came forward to support this government decision.

Dilip Suryavanshi from Dilip Buildcon expressed his thoughts on the matter by supporting the decision and calling it not a harmful act against the environment. Dilip Suryavanshi said, “The Union Government has taken a brilliant step towards boosting the EPC construction in the country, which is not only an opportunity for EPC organisations like us but also safe for the environment. It will make the path deeper, and because of that, rains wouldn’t cause any problem in nearby areas of the river, where thousands and lakhs of homes are drowned due to floods every year.”

The Shipping & Transport Minister of India, Nitin Gadkari said, “Yamuna’s sand will be used for the construction of National Highways. State support agreements to be signed which will allow the utilization of sand from their rivers for the construction of highways. NHAI will dredge rivers free of cost. India is among the most backwards when it comes to water transportation. The Government is pushing for development of multi-fuel engines for ships that can also run on eco-friendly LNG.”

Gadkari informed the concerned media party that the government will build 30 floating water ports and 7 permanent ports on Ganga River. He further mentioned that BS-VI fuel standards will be implemented from 2020.

On the other hand, the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal for taking up Hybrid Annuity based Public Private Partnership (PPP) model under Namami Gange Programme which aims to reform the waste-water sector in India. The government released a statement saying, “This is a futuristic step taken by the government where the market development for treated waste water and structural reforms are complementing the projects. This will help taking up a number of projects with the same allocation as made available under Namami Gange programme with reduced financial liability in the initial years.”