Jagan-led sand mafia created sand scarcity: Naidu

Demanding restoration of free sand policy to save crippled construction sector in the state, former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu said the problem is man-made.

Naidu sat on a 12-hour-long sand 'deeksha' here at the Dharna Chowk on Thursday to highlight the plight of over 35 lakh workers of construction and allied fields who lost their livlihood due to severe shortage of sand.

"Sand is natural and an endowment of god. Why restrictions on it," Naidu said. He said that Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy and his men created scarcity to benefit from the spiked sand prices.

"Seal state borders so that illegal transport of sand stops to Chennai, Hyderabad and Benguluru," Naidu said. Refuting government's argument that floods have washed away sand reaches in Krishna and Godavari rivers, the TDP supremo said that at least 125 different kinds of construction activities came to a grinding halt in the past five months.

Naidu demanded a relief of Rs 10,000 per month to all the construction workers and Rs 25 lakh compensation for the kin of 42 construction workers that allegedly committed suicide.
Criticising the Jagan government for bringing a new law making sand hoarding and transportation a criminal activity, the former CM said that using sand from own land to build your own house will be now considered illegal.

"Jagan, your thoughts are criminal, your wish is to make money come what may. But you can't cheat people all the time, Naidu warned, terming Jagan as "useless". He alleged that Jagan has entered into a quid pro quo arrangement with cement industry to benefit from artificial sand crisis.

According to Dhulipalla Maheswara Rao, the president of Amaravati Centring Workers Association, over 75 lakh workers depend on construction activity in the state. He said that government's indifferent attitude has affected the lives of poor workers.