Unlawful sand mining has become active along the course of the Kharkai and Subarnarekha rivers. Excavation of sand illegal to meet the requirements of the booming construction industry in Jamshedpur has put the officials of the district on their toes.
Though lifting of sand from river-ghats have been banned but for slum-dwellers residing along Kadma Sonari Marine Drive the business of piling up and selling sands is on the rise.
According to information, the slum-dwellers are using the service lane of Marine Drive for collecting the sands. Because of this the pedestrians are being forced to walk on the Marine Drive instead of using its service lane, inviting road mishaps.
After the Marine Drive's service lane became operational in March this year, it was being used largely by the morning and evening walkers. But the area has now turned into sand piling zone. Due to regular sand lifting at the place, it is causing danger even to the rivers as thousands of tonnes of sand are being lifted every day. The authorities concerned are at all concerned over the issue, regret local people. The villagers add that depletion of water tables has rendered borewells useless in the area.
According to information on per trip basis a woman earn on an average `150 per day. And those run the business do earn somewhere between `1,500 to `2,000 per day.
Marine Drive Western Corridor project, links Sakchi-Kadma-Sonari with Adityapur toll bridge and was conceived to keep heavy vehicles off city roads, thus getting rid of traffic snarls in Jamshedpur. Construction on the project started in June 2012. It may be mentioned that in view of the expansion plans of Tata Steel and other Tata Group companies in Jamshedpur, Tata Steel limited had engaged reputed Consultant M/s l & T Rambole and M/s Consulting Engineering Services of Delhi to do a transport study of Jamshedpur.
Officer-in-charge of Kadma police station, Shanker Thakur said he would take the necessary step to stop the illegal practice of piling up sand on the marine drive. He said that a team would visit the site to study the situation and take necessary action.