Illegal sand mining rampant in Kurnool

Kurnool: Despite taking several steps to curb the illegal sand mining from river belts, sand transportation from Tungabhadra and Hundri Rivers is going unabated under the watchful eyes of the police personnel. Hundreds of tractors of Panchalingala village are carrying out the illegal sand excavation business after bribing the police officials.

It is very surprising to note that despite setting up of CCTV cameras at two places, one on the national highway and the other one at the ‘Y’ junction of Munagalapadu and regular monitoring by the police personnel, the sand is being transported illegally to various places in the district and to the Telangana State as Panchalingala village shares the border with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. With the indiscriminate mining of the sand from the river belts, the water resources are getting depleted resulting water shortage during summer.

There are restrictions that sand should not be excavated near bridges and culverts as it may lead to collapse of bridges. The villagers of Panchalingala are carrying out their business in Tungabhadra river violating rules. The transportation of sand begins early in the morning by 5 am and continues till late night. Due to continuous sand transportation in the village, school students and residents are facing problems in crossing the roads and the motorists are fearing to ride their vehicles.

Ten motorists suffered injuries as their bikes skidded due to sand on the roads. Recently, District Superintendent of Police (SP) Gopinath Jetti had suspended two constables after knowing they are collecting the amount from the tractor owners. Educated residents of the village are requesting the SP to take action against those involved in illegal sand mining.

By V Narendra Kumar