Tolivelugu Crime Bureau: There is no one who can surpass the leaders of the TRS party when it comes to deceiving the people of Telangana. It has become a habit for them to focus on whatever appears as a source of income. In this scenario, Medigadda seemed like a big treasure to them. Whenever a place of any kind is filled with sand dunes, the sand can be with the JCBs without any permits. But what would one say when the extraction of sand begins even before the original project, the barrage? What should we call it when they dig up to 20 feet when they have to officially dig nothing more than 3 to 5 feet? At Madigadda, the TRS leaders have been extorting Rs 6,000 crore in sand mining for the last seven years in the name of Sundilla barrages. Even though it is said that the revenue created through this activity is legal, there is a huge misappropriation going on beyond the official income. It seems that they are barely paying any attention to the groundwater conditions.
Started the business in 2015 – Red carpet for granite mafia
Sand tenders were first started in Kanthanapalli before the design of the projects started. Until today, no project was initiated here, nothing was finalized. But the sand tenders called for and created havoc in the Godavari River. Permits were given to the sand mafia in anticipation of the project coming up in Kanthanapalli. From here, however, small-scale retailers are not allowed in tenders. The tenders called for a minimum of Rs 5 crore to be worked out with strict regulations stipulating that one should have experience working in the mining sector. However, for all the granite miners in the joint Karimnagar, the sand tenders were quite a boon.
In general, the expenses to extract the sand are way lower than the expenses for granite, which leaves them hefty profits, and there is a lot of scope to make black money, all in all, the granite merchants entered the lucrative sand business. For that, the then MLA and now Minister Gangula Kamalakar is playing a supportive role. With this, the tenders for the sand extraction are specifically granted to the few leaders who are in proximity and are working in favorable conditions with the TRS party leaders. There are serious allegations that Rs 6,000 crore has been embezzled in the name of projects for seven years.
No obstruction to illegal business!
If the government codes Rs 100 for digging a single cubic meter of sand, they are also charging Rs 85 for the increased diesel price. However, there are many irregularities going on in it. No matter how thick the sand is it illegal to do deeper than 9 feet. But, here they are pushing up to 20 feet. In the name of filling the Godavari, they are digging it recklessly ending up leaving a lot of pits. CCTV cameras were set up to check for irregularities, but none of them work. All those cameras that work are placed at the locations where sand extraction isn’t done. No matter how tough the regulations are, the mafia is now continuing to make heavy profits. For that, the owners pay 2 to 5 thousand for the extra bucket in the lorries. Thus 300 lorries come out of each quarry. One-way bill is available on weekdays. Each lorry makes atleast hree rounds a week beyond the limits. At the small towns, they are shipping the sand without even submitting the way bills. In many ways, this place has become the birthplace of illegal sand mafia.
What is the summary?
It is a matter of controversy that the government, which has given sand permits to projects and barrages in the name of fillings, has not paid attention to the Sriram Sagar project. Tenders are not being called for at this place as the TRS sand mafia is is aware of the thick layers of soil here, and a nominal amount of sand. Analysts are of the opinion that it would be better to link the removal of silt filled in the same various projects to these sand tenders.
Look at what happened in the NGT to the sand mafia activities in Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla. Someone changed the committee by lobbying and pretending to impose a fine of Rs 1,000 crore on the report given by the first committee. While what was the report given by another committee? Let’s look at the government officials behind the sand mafia in Part-5 of the story.
