Construction workers lose jobs with shortage of sand

Scarcity of sand has affected the livelihood of thousands of daily labourers and construction workers in the city and across the state. In Guntur on Thursday, hundreds of labourers got together to protest against scarcity of sand. The protest was staged at Naz centre. Sand scarcity has been a burning problem since the state government directed district collectors to close all illegal sand reaches following a judgment given of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the month of April. After this, as many as 12 sand reaches upstream and downstream of Prakasam barrage on Krishna river were closed down. As the flow of sand decreased, construction of private buildings almost stopped, leading to thousands of daily labourers in the city losing their livelihood.