Sand robbery continues unabated in Penna river

Tadipatri (Anantapur): Penna river basin has become a free for all in Peddapappur mandal for looting sand and illegally selling the same in the border areas of Karnataka. Sand smuggling is going on unabated allegedly with the support of rural party functionaries. People in the region complained that scores of lorries could be seen carrying sand loads to different destinations. It is not clarified whether these lorry loads of sand being transported are legal or illegal. There is no official monitoring by the mines department. Residents of Narsapuram village alleged that the officials are not paying attention as they had an understanding with the smugglers, having tacit support of the ruling party machinery. This explains why there is no vigilance over Penna river basin region, they added. There were times when ex-MLA JC Prabhakar Reddy himself caught the smugglers red handed, but instead of acting against sand mafia, the police took the ex-MLA into custody, the villagers pointed out. They urged the government to install secret cameras in the region to understand the gravity of the situation.