VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the district collectors to identify sand reaches at local ponds, lakes, canals, streams and rivulets in the villages.
The sand mining at the reaches will be conducted under the supervision of village secretariat employees and sand will be transported in tractors for not more than 20 km. The government issued an order allowing sand mining in the new sand reaches. The decision was taken at a review meeting held by the Chief Minister on sand scarcity.
Though the government rolled out the new sand policy on September 4, scarcity of sand is still continuing across the State due to floods in major rivers.
During the meeting, the officials informed that sand is being supplied from only 69 reaches against the identified 200 reaches.
The Chief Minister instructed the collectors to identify the areas where sand mining is possible. Village secretariat employees should monitor the whole process — mining and transportation. Jagan directed the authorities to ensure corruption-free practices, without harming environment.Orders have been issued to collectors to identify the sand reaches village-wise.