Naidu releases white paper on sand beaches

Releasing a white paper on sand beaches here on Thursday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said there were 387 sand beaches in the State and 2,82,08,132 cusic meter sand has been retrieved and a total of Rs 37,00,89000 worth sand has been sold out.

The Chief Minister said some 4,023 self-help groups have managed these sand beaches and with the selling of sand “we could collect Rs 821.21 crore revenue. Highest revenue collection was from East Godavari district and minimum revenue from Prakasam district. “We are using modern technology to prevent irregularities in sand business and the State government prevented greedy middlemen in the trade. We are also using CC cameras to keep a constant watch on the movement in sand beaches.”

A command control has been set up at Vijayawada to monitor sand transportation from the districts and by taking various measures the government succeeded in bringing transparency in this trade, the Chief Minister said. (NSS)