Amaravati: Sand policy badly hit realty, says TDP

Amaravati: Telugu Desam Party MLC P Ashok Babu on Tuesday demanded that the YSRCP government announce a true people-friendly sand policy immediately to prevent the State economy from slipping into a deeper crisis and create confidence among the builders and construction workers.

Babu asked why Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was not able to sacrifice just Rs 750 crore revenue out of sand when a free sand policy would revive thousands of crores worth construction industry thus benefitting lakhs of construction coolies, plumbers, electricians, painters and all those dependent on this sector. The Chief Minister, his ministers and some MLAs were just seeing sand as their golden goose to make easy money without any concern for the suffering of the common people.

Addressing a press conference here, the TDP MLC said that not just the realtors and developers, even the masons and workers were badly hit because of the YSRCP policy. It has led to the construction costs going up by 30 to 35 per cent. The coolies were also asking for higher wages saying that they were unable to live because of the high rates of essential commodities. The workers were saying they were not able to take home enough money after liquor costing Rs 60 to Rs 70 in the past was now priced at Rs 150 to Rs 200. The sand crisis had thus hit all sectors of the State economy.

Ashok Babu said that the Andhra Pradesh's total budget is Rs 2 lakh crore but Jagan was not willing to sacrifice Rs 750 crore for the sake of providing free sand to breathe new life into the construction industry. Jagan was just enjoying his luxuries sitting in his Tadepalli palace just like how Roman Emperor Nero kept fiddling when the Great City of Rome was burning in his rule.

Some YSRCP MLAs had even raised concerns on the bad impact of existing sand policy but the government was not changing. Advertisements were given in papers asking for public advice to change sand policy but no new policy was announced till now, he added.

The TDP leader demanded that the Jagan regime explain to the public as to what it was going to do to revive confidence in the construction industry between Vijayawada and Guntur. The Vijayawada-Mangalagiri had become a high potential growth corridor. Over 6,000 construction ventures came up here and their overall worth was nearly Rs 10,000 crore. All this development came to a standstill now.

The developers were sustaining huge losses and they were being forced to sell their personal property to overcome the unexpected situation. The government allowed free sand on bullock carts, but this was not practically useful due to lack of this transportation facility anymore. Though tractors were allowed in panchayats, the officials were booking cases, he said.