Hyderabad High Court ruling on sand to benefit common man

Vijayawada: The Hyderabad High Court’s order on Thursday allowing farmers to remove sand deposited on their lands by flooding, will greatly benefit the farming community in Krishna district and be a setback to the sand mining mafia.

The sand mafia under the guidance of some ruling party leaders had prevented de-casting as the process is called, which was against the interest of farmers in Andhra Pradesh, especially in West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts. The mafia threatened farmers that de-casting would be going against the National Green Tribunal order.

The High Court judgment, which came on a petition filed by farmers of Krishna district, stated that around 3.45 lakh cubic metres of sand can be de-casted in an extent of on 35 acres of land located in Lankapali Lanka village of Pamidimukkala mandal, in the Pamarru Assembly segment in Krishna district.

The High Court ruled that farmers who are the owners of the agricultural lands that are inundated by floods can de-caste the sand but they are not entitled to deal with the sand in any manner.

“The Assistant Director (Mines and Geology) shall be responsible for monitoring and de-casting of the sand to the extent permission was granted to the said farmers and only he can allocate sand to the public on an application or utilised by the Government as per the norms evolved by the Government and he shall be held personally responsible if de-casting sand is misused by any person,” the High Court order stated with respect to the writ petition No. 36647 of 2016.

The order has clearly stated that the farmers of the agriculture patta lands are only entitled to recoup the cost they incurred for the de-casting from those who intend to utilise the sand.

A farmer from Pamidimukkala, K.P. Rao, said that laying of roads and providing transportation up to the sand deposits is included in the expenditure.