HYDERABAD (Andhra Pradesh) | Jul 28, 2015: The State government has decided to set up a control room for monitoring the sale and transportation of sand from different reaches across the State.

The control room is aimed at monitoring the activity at each depot in tune with the demand and supply needs.

Geo-tagging: With GPS and geo-tagging systems put in place, the control room can direct respective depots to transport sand to the consumer and this could lower the loading and unloading charges at depots besides the handling price.

Uninterrupted power supply: The government is toying with the idea of ensuring uninterrupted power supply at the depots where the sand is stored. “This can be done by harnessing solar energy,” Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said. The Chief Minister convened a meeting with senior officials to review the sand mining activity which picked up after involving self-help groups.

The officials informed the Chief Minister that the government earned net revenue of Rs. 421 crore through the sale of 1.05 crore cubic meters of sand so far.

It was expected that the government would earn an additional Rs. 150 crore by October which marks completion of one year of handing over the sand mining and sale to DWCRA women.

(Source: http://www.thehindu.com/)