india

Updated: Nov 04, 2019 19:37 IST

Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan has set a two-week deadline for the YSR Congress party government to resolve the shortage of sand in Andhra Pradesh that has brought the construction industry to halt, resulting in a spate of suicides by workers.

Pawan Kalyan took out a long march, “Sand Satyagraha”, on the streets of Visakhapatnam on Sunday in support of the workers that culminated in a public meeting at Old Jail Road.

Six construction workers have killed themselves in the last one month in Guntur district after losing their jobs over the sand shortage. The shortage has also hit construction activity in the state, pushing several lakh workers into unemployment.

Pawan Kalyan alleged while addressing the huge gathering that more than 350,000 workers, who directly or indirectly depend on the construction sector, have lost their livelihood in the past four months due to the sand shortage in the state.

The actor-turned-politician also demanded payment of Rs 50,000 to every construction worker as compensation to meet out their livelihood and Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia to the family members of the workers who had committed suicide or died of distress.

“If the government failed to accept the demands and resolve the sand crisis within two weeks, I will launch a long march to Amaravati and I am ready to face any consequences,” he said.

Several leaders from opposition Telugu Desam Party and Bharatiya Janata Party attended the rally.

Opposition parties in the state have said the YSR Congress government is responsible for the sand shortage in the state and held it responsible for the workers’ deaths.

Andhra Pradesh irrigation minister Anil Kumar Yadav had last week rubbished the allegations of the opposition parties. Yadav admitted that there was a sand scarcity in the state but it was due to floods in rivers.

“This has resulted in a gap between demand and supply. The government has taken the required measures to overcome the problem and introduced a temporary three-month sand policy to mine sand from identified reaches at rivers, lakes, and canals and also from patta lands,” the minister had said.

The Jana Sena leader alleged that the YS Jaganmohan Reddy-led government has failed to assess the situation about the sand supply and played with the lives of the workers because of a lack of experience in administration.

“The Jagan government did not even complete six months of ruling, but the people are forced to come on to the streets to protest. It means that the government failed to live up to the expectations of the people,” he said.

Expressing concern over the suicides by construction workers, Pawan recalled how a plumber hanged himself to death after explaining his woes through a selfie video.

“The government has not reacted even to such incidents. The cabinet ministers are not working for the people and they should stop taking their salaries for five months,” he criticised.

“The government is not bothered about the lives of small people like roadside vendors of vegetable and fruits,” he said.