Amid several disruptions since a new government took office in Andhra Pradesh, recent suicides by construction workers seem to reflect a growing distress in in the state’s construction sector. A major cause for concern this time is a shortage of sand that started as early as in July, when the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led state government tried to regulate mining and supply by replacing the earlier regime’s 'free sand' policy.
With flooding of major rivers extending the shortage, despite the government's ad-hoc measures to manage supply, the price of a truck-load of sand (10-12 tonnes) rose to over Rs 50,000