Aizawl: Transporter associations in Mizoram have announced a total ban on the import of sand from outside the state, especially from neighbouring Assam as the state has become self-sufficient in sand.All Mizoram Commercial Tipper Association Owner’s and Driver’s (AMCTA), the Mizoram Tipper Association (MTA) General Headquarters, Aizawl, and the MTA District Headquarters, Kolasib, said they will stop all sand-laden vehicles entering Mizoram from outside the state from August 1.MTA District Headquarters, Kolasib, president H Lalchhanchhuaha said, “The move follows the recent arrest of four of our members, who were transporting sand, a prerequisite for construction works like building houses and roads, from Bagha in Cachar district of Assam, by the Assam police. Truckers from Mizoram have been subjected to intimidations by being arrested or extorted a number of times by police and other authorities in Assam.”The extraction of sand from Langkaih river, which falls on the Mizoram-Tripura border, for commercial purposes by truckers from outside the state will be restricted, he added.
