VIJAYAWADA: Accusing Principal Secretary (Mines) Gopalakrishna Dwivedi of giving wrong figures on sand mining, TDP spokesperson TDP spokesman Kommareddy Pattabhi has sought to know why a senior IAS officer has come forward to “mislead” the public.
Dwivedi said only 2 crore tonnes of sand will be excavated per year. In fact, more than 3.5 crore tonnes will be excavated, he claimed. Pattabhi said the IAS officer did not give a convincing answer as to why a higher rate of Rs 475 was fixed per tonne of sand. “It is Rs 100 more than the existing rate. Each lorry load of sand will cost Rs 4,750 at the stock point itself. With the transport, handling and delivery charges, the total sand cost per lorry will come to Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000,” he alleged.