New sand policy in AP from Jan

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu here on Thursday said his government would bring new sand policy in the state from January 2016. Releasing a white paper on the sand mining activity, Naidu asked the people to discuss, debate and suggest to the government to form a corruption-free new policy.

The Chief Minister said the government was committed to ensure that sand is made available to the people at the lowest possible price with maximum transparency and no smuggling and illegal mining, besides pocketing sizeable revenue to the state exchequer. He said the government had studied the existing sand policies of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra where mining and supply is allowed through public auction.

Referring to Karnataka and Telangana, where mining is done by a mining developer operator (MDO) system, Naidu said the MDOs mine the sand and make it available to the government at a stock point from where the government would sell it to the consumers. He said that the two systems have some advantages and disadvantages as well, he said and added that the government was studying the proposals besides taking views of the people. The Chief Minister said the existing sand policy had increased the revenue to the State government during the last 16 months.

However, it had several lapses involving the self-help groups (SHGs) and the officials of various government departments involved in mining and supply of sand. He said the government had directed the officials to ensure installation of CCTVs at all mines, make on-line payment and booking for sand. However, there were some lapses in implementation, which had led to a lot of criticism besides increasing the cost of sand to the customer. He said the government wanted to correct all these lapses and ensure that mining is executed without corruption or smuggling.

Chandrababu Naidu warned that his government would not allow anyone including the politicians from indulging in smuggling. In reply to a question, he said he would not allow even Telugu Desam leaders to indulge in corruption or smuggling in sand mining. He reiterated that the government would give 25 percent of the revenue generated from sand mining in the state to SHGs and another 25 per cent would be spent on the farmers’ welfare.

The Chief Minister also said the government would start dredging of Krishna and Godavari rivers at Vijayawada and Rajahmundry respectively very soon. This would make the government have additional stocks of sand and silt. The sand would be used for the construction activity in Amaravati and also be sold to the people. The silt would be used to fill the low-lying areas in Amaravati, he added.

When asked whether there is sufficient quantity of sand available in the state, particularly with the government taking up projects like Amaravati and ports, the Chief Minister said the government was also looking at alternatives. “We are trying to use new technology that would require less quantity of sand for constructions. We are also exploring other options for sand,” he added.

Minister for Mines Peethala Sujatha and government communications advisor Parakala Prabhakar were also present.