WANAPARTHY: IN a major relief to the local economy of Wanaparthy district which has been struggling ever since the announcement of the lockdown in mid-March, the demand for sand has gone up considerably after construction activities resumed in the district. In a bid to keep up with the trend, the district authorities have identified as many as six sand reaches for mining in accordance with the Telangana State Sand Mining Rules, 2015.
According to sources, the authorities, as of now, have given nod to mine sand from only five of these reaches, which include Chilkatonipally of Pedda Mandadi mandal, Kamaloddinpur of Qulla Ghanapuram mandal, Sakhapuram tank of Pangal mandal. Though they have also given permission for carrying out extraction at Shamapur reach and Rechintala reach of Atmakoor mandal, the activities have reportedly hit a roadblock due to the objections raised by local residents. As a result of frequent protests, the sand miners are unable to provide enough sand to customers which has led to the piling up of bookings. The situation has been the same in Thoomkunta reach of Veepanagandla mandal as well, which was earmarked by the officials to cater to the needs of two nearby mandals.
However, due to objections by local farmers claiming that frequent sand extraction has dipped water levels in their areas, the miners have not been able to transport sand from this reach. As a result of this, a total of 100 bookings from Thoomkunta area, 120 from Chinnambavi and 100 from BSR company have been pending for quite some time. Meanwhile, some miners are tackling this by extracting sand illegally with the support of local politicos.
However, as the demand has gone up drastically, each load is being sold for at least `6,000 to `7,000 in the district. On the other hand, with the relaxation of norms for sand extraction, some offenders have started illegal mining of sand which has proven to be a headache for the police. Previously, it was the Revenue Department that kept a tab on these issues, however, it has now been transferred to Telangana State Mineral Development Corporation (TSMDC) and its officials have decided to set up a new section to manage the same.