Sand should reach customers within 48 hours: CM

Hyderabad, Jan 27 (INN): In a review meeting on sand mining at the Secretariat on Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has asked officials to look into discrepancies and ensure that operations are carried out efficiently and smoothly.

Suggesting officials to be vigilant about sand mafia’s operations, the Chief Minister told officials that the profits should reach DWCRA women or the Farmers’ Empowerment Corporation. “There can be no compromise on monitoring operations,” he added.

The Chief Minister expressed dissatisfaction over lackadaisical attitude of officials in monitoring sand mining operations. Despite the state government framing a sand policy, officials have not been efficient in curbing sand mafia, he remarked. He suggested that sand mining could be carried out even at small reaches/sites. This step, he said, would help us in bringing down the cost of sand as it would increase the availability of sand.

Questioning officials about the escalating maintenance costs, the Chief Minister asked them to submit a report to him on the costs (starting from sand mining at the reach to selling it to the end user).

The Chief Minister also demanded a report on the implementation of GPS trackers in trucks in Guntur. The report has to be submitted within a week, he added. He suggested officials to study feasibility of building check-dams which will increase siltation, eventually increasing sand deposits.

Stating that customers are the priority, Chief Minister said that the order should reach customers within 48 hours. He also directed officials to keep tabs on bulk orders in order to check whether the sand mafia is using this route to procure sand.