AP to Get New Sand Policy, Repair Roads on War-Footing

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu said on Tuesday that a new sand policy will be formulated for AP soon. Sand would be made available to the public, damaged roads would be repaired and prices of essential commodities controlled through multiple steps, he said.

The CM conducted reviews on sand, roads and essential commodities and advised officials to frame long-term plans to make lives easy for the people.

Naidu held meetings with the ministers and officials of all departments on various issues and directed them to prepare a road map to resolve these issues on a war footing.

He conducted a review of the availability of sand and the new policy to be adopted. The officials explained in detail the results of the policies adopted by the previous TD government between 2014 and 2019 and the “loss” suffered by the state due to the policies of the outgoing government.

They informed the CM that the construction industry suffered heavily due to the high prices of sand and scarcity of stocks besides a lack of transparency in the maintenance of sand quarries.

The officers also briefed the Chief Minister on the large-scale irregularities in the supply and marketing of sand besides the policies adopted on the online sand distribution system. "There was no one to assess the quantity of mining of sand as there was no supervision of the whole process," they told the Chief Minister.

Responding to these complaints, Naidu asked officials to ensure that sand is made available to the construction industry and that there is no shortage of stocks. He wanted the official machinery to focus on controlling the sand prices and they must formulate a new policy on sand supply.

Reviewing the existing condition of roads, the Chief Minister felt that the roads were in a damaged condition. He directed the officials to prepare a report and take steps to repair all the roads.

The Chief Minister asked the officers to study the latest technology with regard to repairing the roads. Despite the financial difficulties, the state government would focus attention on road repair, he said.

Naidu also asked officials to take urgent measures to check the increase in prices of essentials. Reviewing the situation with officials of the agriculture, marketing and civil supplies wings, the CM felt an immediate need to bring down the prices, particularly of onion, tomato, rice etc.

The CM noted that the maintenance of the existing Rythu Bazaars was not in a proper way, due to which the very intention of setting up these units could not be served.

Ministers Kollu Ravindra, B.C. Janardhan Reddy, K. Atchannaidu and Nadendla Manohar along with officers of the respective departments were present at the review meetings.