Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], Oct 27 (ANI): Senior YSR Congress Party leader and MLA Ambati Rambabu on Saturday admitted that there was a scarcity of sand in the Krishna river basin and attributed the shortage to floods."There were floods in Krishna river after 14 years; silt is also there. Sand mining is not congenial due to floods. Once the flood waters recede, there will be the possibility of providing adequate amount of sand to people," Rambabu said at a press conference here.However, he said that it was unbecoming of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu to blame the sand policy of the government for the shortage. "The new policy envisages a ban on mechanised mining and only allows manual sand mining," the MLA said. Rambabu recalled that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had penalised the previous Chandrababu Naidu government with Rs 100 crore for plundering sand reaches.He said the government had decided to speed up issuance of government orders so that there is no red-tapism. Regarding Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan's remarks against Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the MLA said everybody knows that cases were foisted against Reddy only because he had fought against the then Congress government at the Centre and formed his own party."It is no wonder that the people have given him a clear mandate by giving him 80 per cent of the seats and 50 per cent of votes. Pawan Kalyan should stop criticising the government which is striving for the welfare of the people," Rambabu said.His statement comes a day after Jana Sena Party chief and popular Tollywood actor Pawan Kalyan said that lakhs of workers are suffering as they have no work due to sand shortage in the state. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)