Revanth says TS to have new sand policy

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday set a 48-hour deadline to halt illegal quarrying and transportation of sand. After two days, Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) teams would be deployed to check the irregularities in the sand trade.

He said the state government would bring in a new policy to curtail hoarding and black-marketing, besides bringing down sand prices.

He instructed officials to formulate a policy in this regard to generate revenue for the government, after studying similar policies adopted by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other states.

Revanth Reddy, during a review meeting of the mines and geology department at the Secretariat on the day, said that the present sand policy had become a source of corruption, from mining, transportation to sale. “No one responsible for irregularities should go scot-free and strict action should be taken against those who are involved in illegal sand trade,” Reddy said.

Based on the toll gate data, officials were asked to prepare a report on the illegal transportation of sand by lorries, with Reddy calling for checks on all sand reaches and dumps. “Apart from imposing fines, strict action will be initiated against the persons if any irregularities are found,” he said.

Reddy reacted angrily when officials told him that CCTV cameras were installed at all sand reaches, saying that he found no camera at Tanugula quarry in Maneru river during his padayatra last March.

He said that surprise inspections were conducted in Nizamabad and Warangal by the transport department on February 3, with 22 of 83 sand lorries found to be unauthorised.

“Four to five lorries were found transporting sand with the same permit and same number. The surprise inspection revealed 25 per cent of the sand was being moved illegally. There is a need to stop irregularities taking place at the centre of TSMDC and reform the entire mines department,” he said.

Reddy also ordered the seizure of the stone crushers operating without permission around Hyderabad.

He directed the mineral resources department to collect tax as per rules if excavations for cellars are carried out at a depth of more than six metres. An integrated online system will be developed to collect the details of such buildings and the mines and geology department visit the places to issue permissions for construction, he said.

The Chief Minister suggested the use of geo-tagging and GPRS to prevent illegal granite and mineral mining and smuggling. He instructed officials to prepare a detailed report on pending cases related to granite as well as other quarries and the status of the cases before the agencies.