Visakhapatnam: Sand mafia is ruling the roost in the north coastal AP districts at the behest of an influential minister of the region, who is a ‘loud mouth’ in the state assembly. Even though the government has decided to supply sand free of cost, the sand mafia has been collecting Rs 7,000 to Rs 10, 000 for a truckload of sand in the guise of ‘loading charges’ at the ramps.
Hundreds of trucks are loaded with sand along the Vamsadhara and Nagavali sand reaches in Srikakulam district. The sand, that’s otherwise available free of cost with nominal transportation charges, is being sold at Rs 25,000 per truck.
Due to non availability of quality sand in the reaches in Vizag, people and builders are forced to bring sand from ramps in Srikakulam district, which is costing them double the rate. “If we get the sand loaded by our labourers, it just costs between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500, but we are not allowed to do so. We are forced to hire those who are available at the ramps, shelling out at lea-st Rs 8,000.
Sometimes, it go-es up to Rs 10,000. After adding the fuel charges and other costs, we are forced to sell a truckload at exorbitant price. This exorbitant price is even after we add a little over Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 as margin. And, in a day, we can’t make more than two trips,” said a sand transporter, requesting anonymity due to fear of the sand mafia.
A few days ago, builders representing the confederation of real estate developers’ associations of India (CREDAI) had also cried foul about the hefty pr-ice at which sand is being sold, and threatened to stop construction activity.
CREDAI Visakhapatnam chapter chairman K. Ramakrishna Rao said that due to the games being played by unscrupulous middlemen, in connivance with field-level officials, the decision of the government to supply sand free of cost was being scuttled and there was a severe shortage of sand again.
“If we refuse to load sa-nd from the government-identified ramps, fearful of the excessive loading charges, and do it from smaller ramps, cases are being booked against us. We don’t know whom to approach with a complaint. We don’t know any other work other than this even if we want to shift the job. The moment we leave the other ramp with the sand load, information from the mafia goes to the police and vigilance sleuths. This is the kind of harassment we face. This is nothing but an organised loot,” said another sand transporter.
