Open sand reaches, store 70 lakh tonnes of sand before onset of monsoon: AP CM

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday directed district collectors to open all sand reaches and aim at storing 70 lakh tonnes of sand before the onset of monsoon.

During a digital 'Spandana' meeting with district collectors, Reddy also said that hereafter, orders for sand can be booked at village secretariats from June 11. A directive in this regard was also issued in the meeting.

"All sand reaches should be opened and enough stock should be piled before the monsoon becomes active," an official statement quoted Reddy having said in the meeting.

The activity at sand reaches should be stepped up and sand mining escalated in Srikakulam, East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Nellore and Kadapa districts where the number of reaches are more in number, he said.

"New sources should also be identified and reaches should be set up," the chief minister said, adding that the aim should be to store 70 lakh tonnes of sand before the onset of monsoon.

Reddy also announced that from June 11, people can book sand at village secretariats as well.

A joint collector should take full responsibility and the collectors should supervise the transactions, he said.

People with smaller needs can draw sand from any source within 5 km of a sand quarry and the matter should be informed to the village secretariat, while bulk orders should be dealt by a joint collector, the chief minister said.

A standard operating procedure in this regard will come into force from June 10, Reddy said and asked officers to maintain transparency in all deals.

On the liquor policy, the chief minister said the state government has taken effective steps to bring down the consumption of alcohol in Andhra Pradesh.

"We have closed down 43,000 belt shops and reduced the number of liquor shops by 33 per cent, besides cutting down the number of working hours after taking over the liquor trade," he said.

To supplement the government's efforts, there is a need to ensure illicit liquor is not manufactured and there is no smuggling of liquor from outside the state.

"We are very serious about these matters. Any illegal sale and transport of liquor and sand and will be dealt with firmly," he added.