Andhra Pradesh: TDP chief Chandrababu demands CM Jagan to respond on looting of sand mining

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], August 25 : Former Chief Minister and TDP national president Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Friday demanded Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy to respond within 48 hours on alleged looting of Rs 40,000 crore worth of sand in the past four years and declared that soon after the TDP forms the coming government he will order for an inquiry into this robbery.
Making a PowerPoint presentation at the party headquarters here on how Jagan looted the State of this sand worth thousands of crores, Chandarbabu Naidu said that the officials involved in this scam too will have to face the inquiry and they will be punished if found guilty. The former chief minister noted that the orders of the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court were violated in minting Rs 40,000 cr through the sand scam.
Presenting all the necessary evidence on how Jagan resorted to looting the State, the TDP supremo stated that he is questioning the State Government with clear evidence on how a person is swallowing the natural resources.
Maintaining that various sectors benefit from sand, Chandrababu said that this should not turn into a resource to loot. At least 40 lakh people are dependent on the construction wing in which sand plays a major role, the former chief minister felt that sand is also crucial for other sectors too.
Pointing out that a free sand policy was adopted during the TDP regime to encourage the construction industry, Chandrababu said, "Several lakhs of people benefited from this. DWCRA groups have been given the responsibility to maintain sand reaches to ensure that sand is available to even the common man."
"The person while in Opposition resorted to a vicious campaign at that time that sand was being subjected to looting and he even promised to make door-delivery of sand is successfully ransacking the State in these four years," Chandrababu remarked.
The day Jagan took oath he withdrew the sand policy adopted by the TDP government and this resulted in 130 construction workers committing suicide, he pointed out.
Stating that the Annamayya Dam was washed out due to the sand scam in which 48 persons lost their lives, he said that justice has not been done till now to the bereaved family members. Chandrababu also said that during his recent visits to various irrigation projects as part of his Yudha Bheri programme, he found that not even a single project was being maintained properly.
Chandrababu asked, "Why Jagan has taken a 'U-turn on the policy that he had announced earlier and entered into an agreement with JP Power Ventures on May 3, 2021, which is again a binami company of Jagan, and handed over the management of sand reaches?"
Pointing out that this company did not have any previous experience in managing sand reaches, he said that the price has been fixed at Rs 475 per tonne of sand of which Rs 100 goes to the company while the remaining amount goes to the Government.
"What is surprising is that this JP Power Ventures company in turn gave the contract to another company called Turn Key. Since differences arose between the companies on sharing the profits, the Turn Key company opted out of the contract in July 2022. Since August 2022, the YSRCP local leaders have been making money through the sand mafia at their respective places and they are now competing with one another in minting money through this mafia," he remarked.
"While Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts come under package-1, the districts like West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam come under package-2 and Nellore, Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa and Kurnool districts come under package-3," Chandrababu said. Ignoring all the norms, the local YSRCP leaders are resorting to looting the sand though the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered for an immediate halt to extracting sand, he remarked.
Shamelessly, the State Government moved the Supreme Court challenging the NGT order, he said and asked what the systems were doing in the State and why the Managing Director of Mines, who is on deputation to the state, keeping silent. "When we are raising our voice on all these issues, false cases are being foisted against us," the TDP supremo said and added that once evidences are produced the persons involved in the mafia should respond.
Replying to media persons, the former chief minister said that the party leaders are soon lodging a complaint with the Election Commission of India on the deletion of eligible voters. "I am going to Delhi on August 28 to seek an inquiry on the large-scale irregularities in the electoral rolls and deletion of the voters," Chandrababu Naidu added.