The Public-Private Engagement
If smaller nations account for the highest per capita consumption of sand, the larger nations have the distinction of being the highest per capita consumers of cement, the production of which involves large scale usage of sand and aggregates as raw materials. China, India and Brazil account for more than half of the world’s cement production, and these nations are also the highest consumers of cement. It is in these nations that public opposition to sand mining is gaining ground, often evoking a smooth and violent response from vested interests. Citizens, government officials, activists and others have been targeted because they dared to oppose—not the development—but the degradation of environment. Although none can halt or slow down development, things have turned worse because of the lack of accountability and monitoring. These issues of accountability and monitoring can only be redressed with effective public-private partnership. It is towards addressing the needs of an effective partnership model. IoT-enabled Sand Ecosystem Solution engages a cross-sector involvement of local entrepreneurs, contractors, administrators and buyers at all levels with transparency, leaving no room for exploitation or other negative acts. This IoT-enabled technology platform comes at almost no cost to the government, as the required IT infrastructure and manpower is already taken care off by the solution provider itself. Implementing solutions such as the above as developed by t4u shall pave the way forward for putting in place a proper mechanism to check indiscriminate resource exploitation and trafficking.
While it is true that sand trafficking has reached alarming proportions at the local level, it is yet to reach the size that would threaten national economy. However, it is fast evolving into a major issue and has reached the political agenda. It is time the policy makers put in place the necessary checkpoints to ensure accountability at all levels. Only the implementation of a IoT technology enabled monitoring mechanism of sand trading would help address all issues relating to community and environment, and set the framework for effective governance. Until such measures are in place, sand wars will soon eclipse water disputes in the coming days. Sand Reserves: Eliminating Conflicts, Protecting Ecology & Ushering Development with Effective Monitoring.
