To rein back things to normal, Andhra Pradesh government announced that the "Sand Week" would be conducted from november 14th to 21st, to overcome the sand crisis in the State. Speaking at a review meeting, YS jagan Mohan Reddy said that previously, the average sand demand was 80 thousand tonnes. Due to flooding and sinking of the Reaches, this demand could not be met. Now over the past week, the situation has improved considerably and the mining has increased to 1.20 lakh tonnes on a daily basis. The number of Reaches has also increased from about 60 to over 90 in the past week, he said.
The officials also said that the mining capacity would be increased from 1.2 lakh tonnes to 2 lakh tonnes in the coming week. The chief minister also directed officials to increase stock points from 137 to 180. In addition, by the time the Sand Week is over the stock points should be increased to 180, he said. A rate card should also be fixed based upon the constituencies', he said. YS jagan also gave strict instructions that if anyone sells sand in excess, then the person should levied a jail term of two years, instead of a paltry penalty sum or seizure of sand.
