Despite the State having been rocked by one of the worst calamities last year in which over 6,000 people were killed in flash floods — large scale environmental degradation in the region being the primary reason — the sand mafia continues to operate brazenly on the banks of rivers in the State. This, is despite the fact that the National Green Tribunal has put a blanket ban on sand mining and strict safeguards have been set in place by the Supreme Court.
“People have not learnt their lessons despite such a huge loss. They are still playing with nature,” Naresh Tamta, owner of Tamta Tea Stall in Srinagar said. His shop stands overlooking the majestic Alaknanda River where trucks and JCBs could be seen operating mindlessly.
“At least two dozen trucks carry sand everyday from these banks. You can see four to five JCBs working - some crushing boulders into gravel and others loading sand into trucks,” he said pointing at the trucks from the window of his tea shop.
The scene is similar as one meanders through Rishikesh and goes towards Rudraprayag passing through Agastya Muni and Srinagar - two small towns that witnessed extensive damage during flooding in June last year caused by a cloud burst in Kedarnath Valley. The swirling waters of the Alaknanda River washed away the headquarters of the Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) and Industrial Training Institute in Srinagar.
Himanshu Thakkar, Convener of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People said that tampering with riverbeds with machines like JCBs has a devastating effect on the environment as it increases the erosion capacity of the river.
“People do not realise that sand and boulders prevent the river from changing its course. Removing sand gives a bigger space for the river to play with and within no time it changes its course with devastating effect,” Thakkar said.
Officials in the Government admit to the link between indiscriminate mining and the disaster that struck Uttarakhand last year. Amit Chandola, Government spokesman, said that flooding in rivers has caused a lot of damage in the last five to seven years because man has played with nature.
“We are well-versed with the danger, therefore, the State has sought clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to mine over 2,000 hectares of land because the riverbed in the lower reaches of the hills has risen up to 1.5 to 2 metres at some places due to the debris that came down with the flood waters of rivers. The District Magistrates give permission for mining.
And to the best of my knowledge it is banned till October 2014,” he said.
Shailesh Bagauli, Director of Geology and Mining unit of Uttarakhand’s Directorate of Industries, said that since there is a significant rise in the riverbeds because of aggradation, it has become necessary to clear the debris. “The courts have not banned mining. They have simply said that mining cannot be done without clearance from the Centre. So, we have sought mining clearance on more than 2,000 hectares of land from MoEF and the files are in process,” he said.
The illegal mining is carried out by those who are in the business of construction material. With a spurt in construction activity in the area, the contractors are charging hefty money on the pretext of the ban. Sources said the sand and gravel even come to Uttar Pradesh as the Akhilesh Yadav Government has banned mining in Vindhyachal area - the source of gravel.
Himanshu Joshi of Associations of Hotels and Restaurants said that 878 hotels/restaurants have come up at the bank of rivers in Uttarakhand since 2000 - when this hilly region attained statehood. “There must be thousands of other hotels that might have come up in other parts of the State,” he said.
Joshi said that around 600 hotels/restaurants were washed away in the catastrophe that struck Uttarakhand last year.
The riverbeds provide cheap construction material so contractors, Government officials and police work in tandem to look the other way as plundering of riverbeds by contractors continues.
Dr VP Singh of Terai Conservation Society said that people do not realize that sand is an important ingredient for protecting the ecosystem. It not only helps in ground water recharge but also protects the microorganism found at the riverside.
“It is true that rivers provide us with cheap sand and gravel for construction but their plunder damages the ecology,” Dr Singh said. He has filed a PIl in the High Court against illegal sand mining.
Illegal mining is not only a curse of the hills this menace is prevalent in the plains also. “Can anyone forget the case of Divya Shakti Nagpal, the young IAS officer who was suspended because she took up cudgels against the powerful sand mafia in Noida,” he asked.
“Development is necessary but it should not come at the expense of the environment. Playing with nature is like playing with fire,” Dr Singh said.
The NGT had, on August 6, 2013, imposed a blanket ban on all sand mining activities across the country after a petition filed by NGT Bar Association pointed out brazen disregard of a Supreme Court order in February 2012 that required sand miners to seek compulsory clearance from Environment Ministry even for mining in areas less than five hectares.
While imposing the ban, NGT had reiterated that no mining of sand will be permitted without prior clearance from the MoEF. Even the SC order, in no less terms indicated that sand, gravel being minor minerals will require permission from MoEF even for areas less than five hectares. The Court observed, “Sand mining may have an adverse effect on bio-diversity as loss of habitat caused by sand mining will effect various species, flora and fauna and it may also destabilize the soil structure of river banks and often leaves isolated islands.”