Govt committed to free sand policy, asserts Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy

Eluru: Minister for Housing, Information and Public Relations Kolusu Parthasarathy has clarified that the government is committed to free sand policy which aims to provide free sand to the people transparently without any hindrance.

He started free sand reaches in Valasapalli and Yallapuram in Musunuru mandal on Thursday.

He said that the previous regime which carried out sand mining for five years, continuously increased the price of sand and burdened the people and the builders.

However, with the idea of removing burden on people, enable them to buy sand and give a boost to the construction sector as per the promise given before the election, the coalition government brought the policy of free sand.

However, due to heavy rains and floods since July, all the rivers in the State are full of water.

He said that due to this, there were obstacles in the extraction of sand. The Minister said that the government has allowed 108 new reaches in the State along with the existing ones to avoid all kinds of problems. He said that there will be an opportunity to increase the supply of sand.

Besides, to improve the availability of sand, the government has brought more reforms in the free sand policy to prevent smuggling and promote the construction sector.

Nuzvid RDO M Vani, tahsildar Purushottama Sharma, local people’s representatives and officials participated in the programme.