Officials fail to explain real situation to public
•Statement against social media damages govt image
The ongoing sand shortage has turned out to be an eye opener to the Andhra Pradesh State government. It is an open secret that the sand policy and illegal mining proved detrimental to the previous YSR Congress government. They were the main reasons for the YSR Congress big defeat in the last election.
Everyone hoped for a free and fair sand policy from the state government. Indeed, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was very serious about implementing the people’s friendly sand policy unlike the previous government. The State government has announced a free and fair sand policy immediately after it came to power.
The public expressed happiness about the policy. But the lack of sand availability has forced the public to undergo several hardships for the last four months. Actually, the YSR Congress government looted the sand with illegal quarrying by violating the guidelines.
As a result, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and Apex Courts issued notices to the State government. Apart from this, the YSR Congress leaders dug huge quantity of sand more than the public requirement. The previous state government looted the sand and shifted to the stock points for future needs.
As a result, the present government could not continue the sand mining considering the NGT and Apex court orders. The recent floods to Krishna and Godavari rivers stopped the State government from continuing the mining. The whole situation has led to the sand shortage in the state.
A minimal quantity of stocks are available to meet huge demand across the state. The stocks are available in few stock points only. The public had to pay a higher price for transportation though the state government announced a free sand policy. But the officials of the concerned mining department or leaders of Telugu Desam could not explain the facts to the public.
The public who needs sand started sharing their bitter experiences on social media. The TDP social media activists have also extended their support to public. Contrary to the ground reality and facts, the officials released a statement a few days ago in the name of Chief Minister by warning the social media about sand news.
As per the statement, the Chief Minister directed the officials to take action against the social media activists who raised the sand shortage issue. Indeed, the public including rank and file of YSRCP has good faith in Chandrababu Naidu’s administration.
The officials concerned should have explained the real situation. Instead the officials misled the facts. Even the State government did not make any mistakes but the total episode has created a chance to debate the ability of the government. Senior Journalist Jayaram Sridhar said that if the government explained the facts to the public, they would accept them as Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has a credible leadership image.
Also Read : https://thecapital.org.in/ed-clean-chit-ed-clean-chit-for-cm-chandrababu-in-skill-case/