The ruling YSRCP and the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh continued to spar over the shortage of sand in the state on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Minister for Panchayat Raj Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy said that it was 'unfortunate' that Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu’s son Lokesh and his 'foster son' Pawan Kalyan were making baseless allegations against the YSRCP government.
"It is a known fact that sand can’t be mined during the rainy season and floods during the past few months to Godavari and Krishna rivers have led to the scarcity of sand in the state. Godavari is still flowing to the brim," the minister said.
He also said that the state government was planning to conduct a 'Sand Week' from November 14 to 21, to improve the sand availability in the state, as disclosed by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
"The collectors have been asked to locate new stock points for the sale of sand. The number of stock points has already been increased from 137 to 180. While the availability of sand is 80,000 tonnes, it has been increased to 1.2 lakh tonnes per day," the minister said.
The YSRCP government also said that the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APDMC) will identify new sand reaches for improving the situation.
"It is but ridiculous that Chandrababu Naidu has decided to politicise the issue by planning to stage a dharna on November 14. Naidu wants to make a living by making false allegations against the new sand policy knowing very well that rains since August have hampered sand mining," the minister said.
The government also said that strict action would be taken against hoarding of sand and video cameras had been arranged at focal points and 200 check posts had been set up across the state.
Opposition parties in the state including the TDP and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party (JSP) have blamed the YSRCP government for the sand shortage.
On Tuesday, the JSP even submitted a detailed memorandum to Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan demanding his intervention in the crisis.
Immediately after coming to power in May, the Jagan government banned sand mining for more than three months, before it announced a new sand policy to sell sand online in September.
However, it failed to meet the huge demand. The scarcity jacked up sand prices and affected the construction activity in the state, leading to several workers becoming unemployed.
The government has remained adamant that the opposition's claims are 'false propaganda', and has blamed the recent heavy rains and floods for the sand scarcity.
