Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : M-sand
Mains level : M-sand as an alternative to conventional sand
- In three months, the TN State government will put in place an M-sand policy that aims to promote the use of M-sand as an alternative building material.
- It is aimed to eliminate the pervasion of sub-standard products in the market through regulation of trade.
Manufactured sand (M-Sand)
- M-sand is a substitute of river sand for concrete construction.
- Manufactured sand is produced from hard granite stone by crushing.
- The crushed sand is of cubical shape with grounded edges, washed and graded to as a construction material.
- The size of manufactured sand (M-Sand) is less than 4.75mm.
Why use M-sand?
- Manufactured sand is an alternative for river sand.
- Due to fast growing construction industry, the demand for sand has increased tremendously, causing deficiency of suitable river sand in most part of the word.
- Due to the depletion of good quality river sand for the use of construction, the use of manufactured sand has been increased.
- Another reason for use of M-Sand is its availability and transportation cost.
- Since manufactured sand can be crushed from hard granite rocks, it can be readily available at the nearby place, reducing the cost of transportation from far-off river sand bed.
- Thus, the cost of construction can be controlled by the use of manufactured sand as an alternative material for construction.
- The other advantage of using M-Sand is, it can be dust free, the sizes of m-sand can be controlled easily so that it meets the required grading for the given construction.
- Usage of M-sand prevents dredging of river beds to get river sand which may lead to environmental disaster like ground water depletion, water scarcity.