Vijayawada: The district police and revenue administration cracked down on sand mafia, following green signal from the minister for irrigation Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao. Till now, the sand mafia have been frightening the district officials, taking the names of a few Cabinet ministers. When Mr Rao came to know about the same, he directed the police, revenue and mining officials to crack down heavily on those using his name for the illegal sand mining, any where in the district.
Following the orders from the minister, the sand prices have reduced to Rs 2,000 a tractor load, from Rs 11,000, in several parts of the district. The minister also directed the police to book cases against those misusing his name for illegal sand mining. Taking some help from the mining officials, who are in hand in golve with the sand mafia, the latter have begun withdrawing their equipment from the banks of River Krishna, in the Capital region. The mining officials have hinted the mafia members to take back their equipment to the sheds.
The mining officials have reportedly hinted the mafia about the visit of the technical experts of the NGT to the dredging sites, and accordingly, the mafia has withdrawn their equipment. The machinery and equipment have been shifted away from the banks of Surayapalem and Guntupalli. Extensive illegal mining has been going on in Guntur, Krishna, Srikakulam and East Godavari districts for the last few years.
An estimated 2,000 trucks of sand is transported to Hyderabad everyday. Following the activities of sand mafia in different forms, the state government has framed strict policies with regard to sand mining. Under the Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Tree Act (APWLTA) 2002, instream mining is only allowed where the thickness of sand is above 8 mts. The river banks of Krishna in Guntur and Krishna districts have experienced huge mining activity last year.
It is strictly banned for sand with thickness below 2 mts and near structures like dams, bridges etc. In 2006, the government prohibited the use of heavy machinery as well, allowing only manual labour or bullocks in sand reaches. However, miners in the state have carried on as before, gravely depleting groundwater levels and sand reserves. Unfortunately, the CM’s directions also didn’t bring in any change in the attitude of the mining officials, and they have reportedly helped the mafia members, according to the locals of the Surayapalem and Guntupalli villages. But now, the officials, following the minister’s directions, are able to act against the sand mafia.
