Vijayawada: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has asked officials to ensure sand is available to all from October 16 through the 108 sand reaches across the state. There should be no scope for black-marketing in sand, he stressed.Naidu conducted a review meeting with the mines department on Friday. Officials explained that the reaches with a total capacity of 70 lakh metric tonnes of sand are available for supply. Some 80,000 metric tonnes of sand will be available for daily supply.Currently, around 30,000 metric tonnes of sand is being supplied daily. With the newly available reaches, an additional 80,000 metric tons of sand will be available. To improve the ease of sand booking, the chief minister advised the officials to provide a direct booking facility at the reaches along with the online portal.The officials pointed out to the CM that the sand reaches will be operated by private agencies selected by the district-level sand committee. These agencies will be selected through the tenders process.These agencies, officials said, would look after the arrangement of ramps and maintenance of reaches. They would be allowed to operate the stock point at Sand Reach day and night to ensure uninterrupted supply. Naidu suggested that the rate of sand supplied at the reach point should be fixed by the DLSC.Officials said the availability of sand in the market would increase through allowing sand mining in Patta lands. Naidu said there should be no irregularities anywhere. Officials must constantly monitor the situation alongside regular surveillance.Officials must send updated information to the people about the availability of sand, transportation costs, operation costs etc from time to time. “Ensure that black-marketing does not happen, and ensure this through checking, GPS tracking and audits,” the CM said.Naidu said more vehicles should be made available to speed up sand deliveries. Sand is an essential requirement and the problems of supply should be solved, he stressed.
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