POABS find alterantive to sand mining of Kerala River Banks produces sand from METAL & ROCKS M-Sand setS up a second plant in COCHIN
The M-sand manufacturing unit in Thiruvananthapuram. Sensing success at its first endeavour, the Poabs group is setting up a second plant in Manjapra near Angamaly in Ernakulam district.
M-Sand is being loaded
Crushed metal passes through conveyer belt.
The M-alternative
Poabs group's GIM project has started producing sand from metal
This is the alternative.
When sand-mining almost killed Kerala’s rivers and its people were scrambling for their doze of the earthern supply for construction purposes, authorities concerned threw up their hands in despair. There is no alternative, they admitted, as the project for sea-sand mining ran aground. People were forced to live with the reality of continued sand-mining and the gradual death of rivers, something Kerala was more than rich in. They had heard of alternatives used world-wide but none was available in Kerala. Or rather, nobody was willing to experiment and offer the alternative. Except the Thiruvalla-based Poabs group.
The company took up the gauntlet and brought one of those alternatives to Kerala. The project to set up a plant to convert rock into sand was signed at the Global Investor Meet, held in Kochi on 18-19 January 2003. Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikkutty inaugurated the Rs 5 crore plant on November 29.
The group, which has interests in construction, organic farming and fertilisers, located the plant at Cheriya Unni, about 18 km from Thiruvananthapuram. It had been running a quarry for some time but the idea of a final product in the form of sand from metal was developed only later, according to group director Abraham Jacob. The company had earlier been supplying crushed metal to Indian Railways and other groups in the construction industry. It sensed the market for an alternative to river sand, which has increasingly been becoming a rare commodity and whose costs have been on an upward spiral.
The company initiated works on the project immediately after it signed an MoU with Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation. The plant was erected in record three months. Raw material supply was no issue as the company operates its own quarry. As a GIM initiative, the project could avail the services of the Single Window Clearance Board.
The company has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the civil engineering department of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, for research and development on the product. As per the MoU, the company would set up a testing laboratory while CET personnel would run it. “We believe in industry-institution collaboration,” said Abraham Jacob. “And this is a perfect example of such a win-win situation.” Construction of the building is complete and the lab will become functional in two months
The company has started selling the product under the brand name M-Sand. “The market has just started developing,” said Abraham. “At full capacity, the plant can produce 20 truckloads of M-Sand.” The product faced some resistance in the beginning but is well appreciated in the market now, he said. Sensing success at its first endeavour, the Poabs group is setting up a second plant in Manjapra near Angamaly in Ernakulam district. There always is an alternative. And this is one, indeed.
http://www.ksidc.org/infinity/infinity_jan_04.htm
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