VIJAYAWADA: The rivers in the State are in spate, but the AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) ismanaging to excavate 40,000 to 50,000 metric tonnes of sand on a daily basis. As the demand for sand has reduced following the decline in construction activity owing to the monsoon, officials say the quantity of sand they are mining is enough to meet the demand.
With over 45 lakh metric tonnes of sand in storage points, the officials are confident of supplying the same even if there was an increase in demand for the construction material. Speaking to TNIE, a higher official of the APMDC said that though almost all the rivers are flooding, they are excavating sand through boatmen’s societies in East Godavari, Srikakulam, Nellore and from patta lands.
Stating that there will be no scarcity of sand in the near future even if there is a huge demand for the construction material, the official said they have more than 45 lakh MTs of sand in storage points. Informing that plans are afoot to increase the number of sand reaches so as to excavate more sand in the summer by following the norms prescribed by the National Green Tribunal, he said by doing so, they will be in a position to meet the requirements in the next monsoon. “Even as the demand on an average stood at 80,000 MTs a day during the last summer, we excavated more than 1.5 lakh MTs a day and succeeded in reserving more than 55 lakh MTs by the onset of monsoon and now we are in a position to supply sand,” an official said.
“Though the lockdown and the social distancing norm hampered the sand mining to an extent in the beginning of the summer, we have managed to meet the demand so far this year, besides storing sand for the future use,” he said.
Demand VS production