Thousands of construction projects across the city are being delayed and getting more expensive due to an acute shortage of sand caused by an unresolved fight between environmentalists and the government. Several developers, including Haware and Kalpataru, have already informed their customers that the residential projects will not be completed on schedule, and many more are certain to follow suit in the days and weeks to follow.

Dredging for sand has almost totally stopped in the rivers and creeks surrounding Mumbai — places such as Virar, Vasai, Navi Mumbai, Ratnagiri and Raigarh, which served as the main suppliers — and only 300 to 500 trucks are coming in every day, as against the daily demand of 5,000.

“We cannot carry out construction work due to the shortage of sand. We’ve appealed to the state government to resolve the issue. It’s a helpless situation,” Sunil Mantri, President of Maharashtra Chambers of Housing Industry (MCHI), told Mumbai Mirror.

Naturally, with demand far exceeding supply, prices have skyrocketed, driving up the cost of homes and offices for the eventual consumer. Sand was earlier available at Rs 3000 per truck containing 2.5 brass (one brass equals 100 cubic feet). This has now gone up to Rs 12,000.

“Some developers are getting sand from the black market at four times the cost. This burden will be passed on the customers,” said Suresh Haware, a director at Haware Builders, which has several residential projects in Mulund, Vikroli, Thane and Navi Mumbai. “On our part, we have stopped construction at most of our sites,” he said.

At the heart of the problem lies a dispute in which environmentalists insist that illegal and unregulated sand dredging, carried out to fuel Mumbai’s insatiable construction industry, is ravaging beaches, creeks and river beds along the Konkan coast.

Last year, Sumaira Abdulali’s Awaaz Foundation had filed a Public Interest Litigation seeking a ban on mining activities along the coast. The court banned mining in the CRZ areas, and in October extended the ban across the state after allegations that it led to flash floods. The ban was a few weeks later after a government assurance that a new policy would immediately be put in place, ensuring safer dredging with help from local panchayats.

“We did have a couple of discussions with government officials on the issue after the court order, but nothing concrete has happened so far,” Abdulali said. Revenue Minister, Rajesh Tope, meanwhile, was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.

But since formalising an excavation policy is taking so long, construction activity is at the verge of coming to a grinding halt.

“There is no sand being mined in Maharashtra and the government does not allow us to get sand from adjoining states. If things continue, it’ll be disastrous for the construction industry. We’d planned to make one lakh housing units, available in 2011. That will definitely not happen. There will be shortage of houses, and consequently, prices will go up,” Sunil Mantri said.

Suresh Haware described the delay as nothing but government apathy. “The High Court has already lifted the stay order. But the government is simply not moving. They’ve been too busy changing Chief Ministers and forming a cabinet.”