VIJAYAWADA: Protesting against the alleged sand scarcity in the State, which reportedly made several lakhs of people dependent on the building and construction sector to lose their livelihood, forcing some to commit suicide, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu sat on 12 hours fast at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada on Thursday. Addressing a large number of people, who came to support his ‘Deeksha’, the Leader of the Opposition lambasted YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the State for its negligence in dealing with the situation and ignoring the suicides of the building and construction workers.
Stating that no one wants to commit suicide and it will be only a last resort when all hope is lost, Naidu asked the government why it failed to understand the reason for the sand crisis. “Why have you created a sand crisis, when it was not there in the first place. Is it not for your party men’s selfish motives?,” he asked.
Pointing out that 35 lakh families are dependent on the construction sector, he said more and more people are finding it hard to get food on their table. “There are people of 125 trades like mason, carpenter, plumber, transporter who are dependent on the construction sector. Even the ordinary provision store is also dependent on it. Sand scarcity today has a cascading effect on all of them,” he explained.
He also found fault with Jagan for making personal remarks and said he too can speak the same language but his upbringing is preventing him from doing so. He demanded reintroduction of free sand policy, announcement of `25 lakh ex gratia for the families of the construction workers who committed suicide and payment of `10,000 per month to the building workers who were rendered jobless.