One issue that has been a blot in the otherwise smooth governance of YSR Congress party government headed by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is shortage of sand that has resulted in the construction activity to a grinding halt.
Though the Jagan government introduced the new sand policy from September, the crisis is still continuing and the authorities are not able to ensure adequate sand supply.
Adding to this, reports of local politicians indulging in illegal sand sales have also been coming to light here and there.
The chief minister has been regularly reviewing the situation and giving instructions to ensure that there is adequate sand supply to the construction industry, but heavy rains and floods to rivers, besides improper implementation of sand policy by officials have been causing severe sand shortage.
On Tuesday, panchayat raj and mines minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, however, tried to play down the sand crisis in the state.
He said enough permits have been given to land owners to carry out sand mining to overcome the crisis.
He said the state had witnessed abundant rainfall and because of this, Krishna and Godavari are flooding for the past 70 and 40 days respectively. This has resulted in sand crisis, he said.
The minister, however, said that the government was trying all the possible ways to overcome the sand crisis by supplying sand from patta lands.
He also mentioned that around 50,000 tonnes of sand had been also supplied to CREDAI and real estate companies.
“Action is being taken to see that there is no trouble for the building construction workers,” he said.