Amaravati, Nov 13 (IANS): The Andhra Pradesh government has enabled sand buyers to go to any sand reach to personally examine the quality and buy, negating the need for online booking.

"There is no need for online booking or the hiccups faced while using the app which may not work sometimes. There is no room for online cheating," said a government statement about the new sand policy.

Cancelling online sand booking, the state government has advised buyers to make their own shipping arrangements.

The government mandated that organisations running the sand stock yards should arrange 20 vehicles.

Across the state, sand will be sold only at the price fixed by the government, leaving no scope for fleecing the customers.

In a generous move, the state government will give sand for free to anyone coming with a bullock cart.

"People living near the sand reaches, weaker sections and government housing schemes will receive free sand through coupons," said the statement.

The Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) has been tasked to contain all sand policy violations.

Mines and Geology Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy said the new policy has been formulated only after taking inputs from all sections of people.

"Making quality sand available to people and enabling them to personally check the quality without any difficulty were the goals of the new policy," said Reddy.

The Andhra Pradesh government intends to engage Central government entities to excavate, store and sell sand in the state.

All the sand reaches have been classified into three packages. Package 1: Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts. Package 2: West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts. Package 3: Nellore, Anantapur, Chittoor, Kurnool and Kadapa districts.