Hyderabad, July 5 : Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday reviewed the availability of sand in the State and directed the officials to speed up the auction process of the reaches for which there is an environmental clearance.

Principal Secretary Mines D Srinivasulu apprised the Chief Minister that out of 36 new reaches for which environmental clearance is obtained, 18 reaches are already auctioned. Balance 18 are under the auctioning process. For the 47 old reaches for which renewal is to be done for the period of 2nd year, steps are being taken to obtain the environmental clearance.

The Principal Secretary also informed that steps are taken for de-silting of sand reaches under submergence in the irrigation projects.

The Chief Minister directed to examine the issue of enhancement of security deposit to curb the speculative bidding. The Chief Minister has directed the Mining officials to ensure that the sand is available for construction activities in all the districts so that the consumers are not put to hardship.

Minister for Mines and Geology Galla Aruna Kumari and other officials were present during the review.