Former chief minister and TDP president, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, on Friday demanded that Chief Minister, Jagan Mohan Reddy, reply within 48 hours on looting Rs 40,000 cr worth of sand in the past four years and declared that soon after the TDP forms the coming government he will order for an inquiry into this robbery.
Making a power-point presentation at the party headquarters here on how Jagan looted the State of this sand worth thousands of crores, Naidu said that the officials involved in this scam too will have to face the inquiry and they will be punished if found guilty. The former chief minister noted that the orders of the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court too are violated in minting Rs 40,000 cr through sand scam.
Presenting all the necessary evidence on how Jagan resorted to looting the State, the TDP supremo stated that he is questioning the State Government with clear evidence on how a person is swallowing the natural resources. Maintaining that various sectors are benefited with sand, Naidu said that this should not turn into a resource to loot.
Pointing out that a free sand policy was adopted during the TDP regime to encourage the construction industry, Naidu said that several lakhs of people benefited from this. Dwcra groups have been given the responsibility to maintain sand reaches to ensure that sand is available to even common man, he added.
Stating that the Annamayya Dam is washed out due to the sand scam in which 48 persons lost their lives, he said that justice is not done till now to the bereaved family members. Naidu also said that during his recent visits to various irrigation projects as part of his Yudha Bheri programme he found that not even a single project is being maintained properly.
Naidu asked as to why Jagan had taken a ‘U’ turn on the policy that he had announced earlier and entered into an agreement with JP Power Ventures on May 3, 2021, which is again a binami company of Jagan, and handed over the management of sand reaches.
While Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts come under package-1, the districts like West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam come under package-2 and Nellore, Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa and Kurnool districts come under package-3, Naidu said. Ignoring all the norms, the local YSRCP leaders are resorting to looting the sand though the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered for an immediate halt to extract sand, he remarked.
