With the flash floods causing havoc in Uttarakhand, the issue of river conservation has yet again gained centrestage with experts calling for the need to put an immediate stop to riverbed mining that has led to changing courses and carriage of huge silt and boulders along with its flow.
Experts pointed out that the National Board For Wildlife (NBWl) along with Supreme Court had rung the alarm bells earlier (during its last meeting in March itself) on riverbed mining (sand, bajri and boulder) that was passing within 10 km eco-sensitive area of Rajaji National Park. It had rejected 10 such proposals that had come before the SC-NBWl for clearance.
The 28th Meeting of the Standing Committee NBWl held on March 20, 2013 had discussed 13 proposals for Riverbed Mining of sand, bajri and boulders (Minor Minerals) spanning across Saharanpur areas in Uttar Pradesh and areas bordering Uttarakhand.
The SC-NBWl had sent its two member team for site inspection. The site inspection report was discussed by SC-NBWl that had raised serious concerns on river bed mining around Rajaji National park.
The experts pointed out that such indiscriminate river bed mining projects apart from hampering the movement of wildlife also affects the course of the rivers. The flow of the rivers is abruptly diverted causing problems particularly to the local population. “It is time that such normal courses of rivers are not messed with,” they pointed out. There are 400-600 crushers operating in the riverbed, which are putting further pressures to have more such mines in the area.
There are many such riverbed mines that are proposed around Rajaji, Chilla and Motichur sanctuary in the small rivers, which ultimately drain into Yamuna and Ganga. They informed that majority of the local people strongly are in Opposition against such activities. Apart from affecting the river ecology, it also escalates man animal conflicts in the region, especially that the area is an essential part of the Shivalik Elephant habitats.