MANCHERIAL: The seriousness with which the government officials cracked down on illegal sand mining seems to have dampened after a few days of dealing illegal transportation of sand with an iron hand.
After minister KT Rama Rao’s instructions to check illegal sand mining, officials responded. However, the illegal transport of sand is on the rise again in the Godavari belt of Chennur to Mancherial and Jaipur in Macherial district and also in Nirmal, Kumram Bheem (Asifabad) and Adilabad districts. The government is losing crores of revenue. Sources said more than 450 tractors were transporting sand every day from the river in Mancherial district.
The tractor owners formed a union, and police, revenue and mining officials are helping them in exchange for bribes. Sources accused TRS leaders of supporting the sand mafia. If any officer wants to seize the tractors or lorries in illegal reaches, the politicians ask them to leave the vehicles and threaten them with transfer. Many blame the construction boom after the formation of new districts for a spike in sand mining.