AP Govt. issues orders on free sand supply

The Andhra Pradesh state government has officially announced the implementation of the Free Sand Policy, cancelling the previous sand policy. The new policy, which was released on Monday afternoon, aims to provide free sand to consumers until a new sand policy is formulated in 2024. This decision comes after the government cancelled the sand policy introduced by the previous administration in 2019.

The government has issued guidelines for the supply of free sand and consumers will only have to pay for transportation costs and other statutory taxes. As soon as the policy came into effect, vehicles lined up at stock points to avail the free sand. However, there was a delay in the release of the government order in the morning, which was promptly addressed by Chief Minister Chandrababu.

Officials cited lack of coordination as the reason for the delay in the release of the Free Sand Policy, but with the intervention of higher officials, the GO was released in the afternoon. The new policy is expected to benefit consumers and streamline the process of sand supply in the state.