Principal Secretary (Mining) Gopalakrishna Dwivedi on Sunday said that sand booking facilities would be available at the village and ward secretariats, besides the online mode.

In a statement, Mr. Dwivedi said online booking timings would be extended and a buffer stock of about 70 lakh metric tonnes of sand would be kept for use during the monsoons.

In a review meeting held on June 5, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy instructed the officials to pile enough stocks in sand depots and to ensure that bulk orders were booked only under the supervision of the respective district Joint Collectors.

He had also stressed on transparency in booking and delivery of the commodity.

Door delivery

Mr. Dwivedi said for smaller requirements, people could draw sand from the local sources and it could be delivered using push carts within a radius of 5 km free of cost. He said Andhra Pradesh was the only State which had introduced door delivery system for sand to bring in transparency.

The bookings can be done through the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC). “A Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) has been constituted to check the unauthorised mining and transport of sand by installing cameras at the stock points and checkposts.

Penalty

Stringent punishment of a two-year imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹2 lakh are meant to be deterrents,” said Mr. Dwivedi.

“At present, an average of 1.25 lakh metric tonnes of sand is mined every day and the government plans to increase it to 3 lakh metric tonnes per day,” he added.

Special team

Informing that 70 lakh tonnes of sand was being stored for the monsoon season, he said efforts were on to bring back the migrant labourers who are skilled in sand mining.

“Special teams have been formed at the district level on sand operations to keep a watch on malpractice,” said Mr. Dwivedi.