Special project for mass transportation proposed

Dargahonnur (Anantapur): Sand dunes spread over 5000 acres and scattered over 12 villages in Kanekal and Bommanahal mandals in Rayadurgam Assembly constituency pose a grave threat to more than 10,000 families living in the region.

When wind velocity is at its highest during June to August, people are subjected to a kind of sand storm, when sand waves rise like a towering inferno due to high wind velocity and carry the sand to just everywhere into the houses, roads and public places with huge sand deposits adversely affecting normal life including vehicular traffic.

To encounter this grave problem, a special project involving an expenditure of Rs.28 crore for mass transportation of the sand deposits has been proposed and sent to the state government.

This was shared by Rayadurgam MLA and government chief whip Kalava Sreenivas while interacting with The Hans India.

A legal hitch that the sand should not be transported beyond 5 km region came in the way and efforts are being made to relax the norm as the situation here is extra-ordinary, he added.

Another proposal for sand transportation, promotion of horticulture and afforestation in sand dunes at a cost of Rs.16.78 crores was approved.

District Water Management Agency (DWAMA) project director A.Nagabhushanam told 'The Hans India' that Hagari and Vedavati were once rivers of life flowing in the Rayadurgam region.

These rivers during severe storms had brought massive sand deposits to the region and after the disappearance and death of these rivers, they turned into a desert.

In fact every year the sand dunes were expanding by 38 -40 square kilometeres, thus enlarging the sand dunes base. The sand quality is super fine and silky and is not suitable for buildings construction.

A septugenarian Obuleshu Manda of Dargahonnur village talking to this reporter stated that he had been watching the sand dunes right from his childhood.

The area treatment under the Desert Development Programme two decades ago, implemented by tree plantation to arrest sand shifting and provide shield to people to neutralise wind velocity had not yielded the desired results.

The government of the day spent crores of rupees but the problem remained the same even after two decades, he lamented.

District Water Management Agency (DWAMA) and district collector Kona Sasidhar are applying their minds on the issue and as part of an action plan are encouraging desert crops including groundnut, maize, musk melon, guava and even casuarina plantations to arrest sand erosion and neutralise impact of wind velocity.