Andhra Pradesh high court seeks report on sand mining

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh high court on Monday sought to know from the government on the steps taken against contractors involved in illegal sand mining in the state. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar made this order while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Annam Sivaiah and K Koteswara Rao of Dharani Kota in Guntur district who brought to the notice of the court about the illegal mining activities of the sand contractors in the state.
The bench observed that some contractors had dug to an alarming extent of 20 lakh cubic metres in some area and also noted that a lot of them had not even paid the required fee to the state. The advocate general A Sudarsan Reddy replied that following the court’s stay order on sand quarrying, the housing scheme for the poor has suffered a setback and sought the court to amend its earlier order.
The bench while refusing to vacate the stay it had imposed earlier directed the AG to furnish it a report by Thursday the number of errant contractors the state identified so far and the action taken against them them. The AG told the court the state is ready to abide by the directions given by the court but wanted a relaxation in the stay. He wanted the current auctions of sand reaches be allowed. The bench will hear the matter on Thursday.