Cocking a snook at the Gautam Budh Nagar District Administration, the sand mafia continues its brazen run and has been excavating sand with impunity.
However, following the unwanted attention the sand mafia has been getting because of the controversy surrounding suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, the sand mafia has changed its tactics a bit.
The whole operation is now being run at night with the active connivance of local authorities and now they mainly use high-capacity Poclain excavators as they dig out more sand in a shorter span of time.
Also, the number of excavators and dumpers used in the operation has gone down as the gangs have started employing fewer vehicles. A team of The Pioneer surveyed the catchment areas of Yamuna River in Noida and Greater Noida on Wednesday night and spotted over a dozen places where illegal sand mining was taking place.
The team also noticed a large quantity of sand dumped at several places, including farmhouses in Noida, and also found sand extraction taking place on public land with the help of armed goons.
When The Pioneer team reached Dankaur in Greater Noida, a number of vehicles loaded with sand were seen plying there and sand mining was going on in more than six spots near Jaganpur village alone. The complicity of guards of several construction companies, local police and the villagers was plainly visible.
Digging was also on at several places in Gharbara, Nawabpur, Faleda, Jaganpur Doab, Murshadpur, Motipur and Pushta area along the river.
Dozens of people on bikes and in cars, acting as lookouts for the mafia were spotted wandering around the mining spots. These lookouts followed The Pioneer team at various places and posed a threat by overtaking the vehicle at times. Finally, they confronted the team and forced us to turn back.
At Kanarsi, under Kasna police station, digging was taking place at a frenetic pace and tractors with trailers were being used to ferry the illegally extracted sand. locals told The Pioneer that despite the media publicity over the issue, rampant sand mining was going on along the Yamuna and Hindon.
“The mining lobby is still busy raking in the moolah and local police allow the movement of trucks and other vehicles, for a consideration. Many villagers, who support the mining mafia, have given up their traditional sources of livelihood and have joined the lucrative sand mining business. When the water level recedes in the catchment areas of these rivers, the mining mafia comes out in full force in the region,” said a villager from Kanarsi on condition of anonymity. The brazenness of the mining mafia was also seen in Samaspur, Nawada, Chauchula and Khilli villages on the way from Dankaur to Kasna.
The flood plains of Raipur, Asgarpur, Jhatta, Badauli, Nangli, Wazidpur, Mangroli, Chhaprauli and Gulawli villages in Noida play host to the mafia and all the illegally extracted sand is stored in farm houses and abandoned gram-sabha lands.
According to a rough estimate the value of sand being extracted runs into several crores of rupees. A cursory look at these areas was enough to suggest that large scale mining has been going on in this belt. Sadly, the villagers have been reduced to mute spectators as the sand mafia continues to rob their land.
According to the villagers, the sand mafia has stocked a mountain load of sand in this region and has acquired Gram Sabha land in many places for carrying on its illegal activities.
“The mafia is still active in the catchment areas of the river and in Raipur village alone they have grabbed around 50-acres of Gram Samaj land. They have been digging up that land under the nose of the district administration. When the villagers raise their voices against the mafia, they use muscle power so smother their voices. The recent killing of Pale Ram Chauhan was the carried out to send a message to those who dared to oppose them,” said Vinod Chauhan, a resident of Raipur village.
According to reports, around 200 truckloads of sand was extracted from Raipur, Motipur, Gharbara, Murshadpur, Khedi, Asgarpur, Gulawli, Badauli, Chhauprauli, Mangrauli, Ghunpura, Mehandipur, Takipur, Jhatta and some other villages on Wednesday night. On Thursday night, nearly 350 truckloads of sand were reportedly mined from the same area.