As the nationwide lockdown norms have been relaxed to a maximum extent, people are keen on resuming the construction of their houses. Builders are desperate to complete their projects before the onset of monsoon. However, shortage of sand hits everyone in the State.
Srinivasa Reddy, a businessman, who is constructing his house at the upmarket residential area, Vidya Nagar in the town, wanted to resume the construction which is at the final stage. So, he logged in to the sand.ap.gov.in to register for online supply of sand, but found to his disappointment that the booking has been closed for the day. He waited for another day, but could not register the details. Disappointed over it, Mr. Reddy sought help from his friends who have connections with the police, and finally got a load by paying ₹10,000 per load, four times the normal price. The case of Mr. Reddy is not an isolated one and the scenario is same all over the district.
Elected representatives start feeling the heat. At a recent review meeting held by Minister for Panchayat Raj Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy in Guntur, Vinukonda MLA Bolla Brahmanaidu vented out his frustration at the shortage of sand, while other MLAs said that the people have started complaining.
``Even after a year of forming the government, we are not able to ensure free supply of sand. Our intention of curbing corruption might be real, but there are several faulty lines in our system, which is making sand dearer,’’ said a senior YSRCP leader.
Soon after the new government took over, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy set his mind on evolving a new sand policy and freeing the precious resource from the clutches of middlemen. But the making of the new sand policy took time and the early onset of monsoon meant that sand was unavailable for more than three months.
More demand
In Guntur, according to the Department of Mines, there is a stock of 2.15 lakh metric tonnes of sand, while the demand is 10 lakh MT.
District Collector I. Samuel Ananda Kumar said that out of 27 sand reaches, 11 are still working and the permissions are yet to be secured for four other reaches. ``In the 11 stock yards, we have sand stocks of 2.16 lakh MT but we have set our eyes on getting 10 lakh MT before the monsoon,’’ said the Collector.
Mr. Ramachandra Reddy said that the Chief Minister had brought about the new sand policy with a view to making sand freely available at the doorstep of the people. People have to book sand online but the system has not yet been used fully by the people in the rural areas.
``We are exploring the possibility of using the services of village/ward secretariat staff in registration of sand online, but we will continue to give priority to public works, while private works will get 10 % of sand of bulk booking. We are GPS technology fitted to the sand trucks to make the whole process transparent,’’ said Mr. Ramachandra Reddy.