Maharashtra contractors looting sand from Telangana

​Nizamabad: The quarry contractors, who have secured permits from the government of Maharashtra, are encroaching Telangana land while quarrying sand from the riverbed of Manjeera that formed a part of the border between the two states.

The officials apparently turned a blind eye to the goings on. The loot of sand is going on unchecked with no clear division of the river between the two states. The loot of sand is causing a dent of several crores of rupees to the state exchequer.

The contractors, who got permission to quarry sand in Sakhapur and Savla on Maharashtra side, are stealing the sand deploying hundreds of trucks from the riverbed in Sunkini village.

Sakhapur is located on the Manjira River bank on Maharashtra side. The contractors even built ramps on the riverbed to facilitate the trucks frequent the place.

The sand quarries and smuggling of sand is often leading to tension in the interstate border area. The Maharashtra government is accused to auctioning the sand to mint gold even though there was no sand in the riverbed on its side.

The indiscriminate sand quarrying is affecting the supply of water for drinking and irrigation. There were minor irrigation projects at Kolluru, Hegdoli, Sunkini of Kotagiri mandal. Indiscriminate quarrying is pushing down the groundwater table further.

It was high time the officials clearly marked the boundaries in the riverbed for Maharashtra and Telangana states to prevent encroachments. The residents of the district seek officials to keep a hawk eye on smuggling of sand to prevent drainage of revenue due to the state government.