The Congress party, if voted to power in the State, would provide sand free of cost to the housing sector in a bid to protect natural resources, said District Congress Committee (DCC) leaders, who staged a dharna in front of the Collectorate in Sircilla on Tuesday opposing illegal sand mining in the district.
DCC president K. Mrutyunjayam, Jagtial legislator T. Jeevan Reddy, former Minister D. Sridhar Babu and ex-MP Ponnam Prabhakar participated in the dharna and rasta roko.
They alleged the State government was encouraging the sand mafia and getting over ₹400 crore from them and accused it of protecting cops who allegedly tortured the villagers of Nerella for obstructing the mafia’s illegal operations.
