VIJAYAWADA: Availability of sand to the people crossed 2 lakh tonne mark from 1.37 lakh MT on the first day of ‘Sand Week’, which commenced across the state on Thursday.
According to the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) officials, production of sand across the State has improved and online sale also increased compared to the previous day.
There are 115 sand reaches in the state and of them 80 are operational on the first day of Sand Week, besides six desilting points and 15 patta lands.
A sand ramp was opened at Khandavalli in West Godavari district on Thursday, where the sand production is expected to pick up in the next couple of days.
In addition to the existing sand depots, 25 more were opened to facilitate the speedy dispatch of the construction material to consumers.
On Day 1 of the Sand Week, sand sale was between 90 and 100 per cent at 57 of the 87 stock points. But it was below 50 per cent at the remaining 30 stock points “As of now there is enough stock of sand to meet the demand even if there is no production for 3-4 days. But the sand production is increasing day by day as the floods in most of the water bodies across the State have receded. Measures have been taken to improve the availability of sand by 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes every alternate day to constantly maintain the sand supply at 2 lakh tonnes,” a senior official told TNIE.
Out of the 2 lakh metric tonnes of sand, 1.6 lakh MT is meant for general consumers, while 40,000 MT is for bulk consumers. Out of the total 13 districts, sand availability is less in twin Godavari districts as the flood levels continue to be high in Godavari. The situation in all the sand reaches is expected to improve by the end of this month.