New sand policy delayed

Ongole: The new and free sand policy which was supposed to be implemented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh on September 11 got delayed without any information and alternate arrangements. The districts, which have to pile up sand at the stock points, are just directing the public to wait few more days or bring their required sand from stock points in other districts, by paying hefty transport charges.

As part of the new policy, the government wanted to implement a slab-based mechanism to fix the transport charges while providing the sand free of cost to the desired public. The district collectors and deputy transport commissioners discussed with the transporters and finalised a tariff table for the tractor with trailer, 6-tyre, 10-tyre, and 12-tyre goods vehicles. Though some of the transporters are not happy with the fixed prices, and requested the officials to revise the price, the collectors advised them to register their vehicles for the empanelment. They are asked to transport the sand to the allotted customer, from the stock point at the time they were allotted to.

As the government announced the date of implementation of the new free sand policy as September 11, the local officials didn’t bring the sand to the stock point though the stock was emptied long ago. The customers, who are expected to get the sand from September 11 at least, are being welcomed by a ‘404 Error’ notice on the website explaining that the desired page is not found online.

In Prakasam district, the officials fixed the transport charges for a tractor with a trailer of 5-ton capacity as Rs 1,200 for 10 km, Rs 1,900 for 20 km, and Rs 2,400 for 30 km of distance. For a 6-tyre goods vehicle of 10 tons capacity, the prices are fixed as Rs 1,600 for 10 km, Rs 2,200 for 20 km, Rs 2,500 for 30 km, and Rs 3,300 for 30 to 50 km. For the 10 and 12 tyre goods vehicles of 18 and 21 tons capacity respectively, they fixed the prices as Rs 2,900 for 10 km, Rs 3,850 for 20 km, Rs 4,950 for 30 km, and Rs 5,350 for 30 to 50 km.

For distances of more than 50 km and up to 180 km, the officials fixed a tariff of Rs 6.25 per km.

Speaking to The Hans India, the mining DD B Jagannatha Rao said that they made arrangements for the implementation of the new sand policy, but they didn’t receive any information for the delay from higher officials. He said that they didn’t have any stock of sand in the two stock points in the district. He said that they are advising the public who are seeking sand to procure it from the neighbouring districts. He said that the decision on revising the transport charges is not yet made by the government, and said that it may not be a reason for the delay.