Andhra Pradesh assures sand availability through full front-page advertisements
It's common for Governments to release full-page advertisements in the leading dailies to mark the launch of a scheme or a project or an important occasion but the Andhra Pradesh government has done something unusual. Leading dailies on Monday carried full front-page advertisements inserted by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government to inform people that sand is easily available. The advertisement carries the names of 175 sand stock points along with the prescribed sand price. There is one stock point in each Assembly constituency with the price of sand ranging from Rs 410 to Rs 1,590 per tonne. It also carries a toll free number for people to complain against anyone indulging in corruption or trying to sell sand at a price higher than the prescribed price. There is also a warning that no person shall hoard/resale/black market or stock beyond his reasonable requirement. "Penalties for violations include a fine of Rs 2 lakh and also imprisonment up to 2 years." The ad, which claims that around 2 lakh tonne of sand is being supplied daily, came amid the raging controversy in the state over shortage of sand.