The Andhra Pradesh Government has announced new guidelines for sand mining in Agency (tribal) areas of Khammam and Warangal to bring transparency and accountability.
According to the guidelines issued by the Government, the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation Ltd has initiated steps to start sand operations under the control of gram panchayats and tribal societies. This will be under the supervision of district collectors and Integrated Tribal Development Authority.
H.D. Nagaraja, Executive Director of the Corporation, in a statement said that these measures are being initiated to bring about accountability and transparency.
The Government had allotted 12 sand reaches under the Agency areas of these two districts to the Corporation. The idea is to ensure that the benefits of these go to the local tribals, subject to securing environmental clearances. The necessary clearances have been secured for mining activity.
The Corporation shall allot sand reaches to the gram panchayat and the sand thus extracted will be stored at a stock point after transport. Work may be allotted to the local society according to the rate fixed by the gram sabha.
The necessary finances will be provided to the society through local banks with the coordination of the Corporation and the Authority.
According to the guidelines, about a quarter shall be allocated to the Government works, another quarter for local use and the remaining half could be traded for commercial use in the open market through bidding.
All the transactions will be through bank accounts and no cash transactions will be entertained.
Of the profits, half will be deposited in gram panchayat funds for community development and welfare of local people and the other half for societies.