The nationwide stay order on sand mining on the river beds without the Environment Ministry clearance recently by the National Green Tribunal has no effect on the sand mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh.
The rampant illegal sand mining was discovered when this correspondent had travelled to Sohagpur in Hoshangabad district to do a reality check. Incredibly, Madhya Pradesh is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled State, the same party which is crying foul over the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal in Uttar Pradesh.
A truck, which was illegally filling sand from the bed of river Tawa at night in Hoshangabad, got stuck when water levels rose. The driver fled the spot after he could not drive back his vehicle to safety. The story is same every day, numbers of truck wait for their turn to be loaded with sand daily, which has caused local people to raise an alarm.
“When the river conservation authority was formed, we became hopeful. But as you can see the mining menace has only grown,” said Dinesh Sharma, local resident. Some officers of the Madhya Pradesh Government had raised questions against the rampant illegal sand mining even before the Nation Green Tribunal passed its order. A show cause notice was served by the Mines Department on December 2011 to Shiva Corporation - the company allegedly behind all sand mining activities in Madhya Pradesh. This company is alleged to have illegally mined sand estimated to be worth Rs 378 crore.
“Everyone says that the mines belong to one master saab. Everyone knows who he is and his relation with the Chief Minister,” Said former Chief minister Digvijay Singh. Though the National Green Tribunal may have banned illegal sand mining but on the banks of river Tawa in Sohagpur means nothing. The sand mining mafia in Hoshangabad is operating without any fear as the mines have not been demarcated for the past four years.