The sand demand in india has approximately tripled since the early 2000s. To feed the demand and supply thoroughly, miners have switched from manual and artisanal extraction to massive and mechanized exploitation, leading to major damage. Most the mining is done illegally to fulfill the sand demand faster and more efficiently, as it is a profitable and phenomenal striking business.
Although, due to the greed and hunger of money, “Sand Mafia’s” are emerging and executing this illegal act of sand mining to send to domestic developers, not for exports. Most of the Sand Mafia’s are criminal businessmen with strong political connections making it easier for them to break the rules and not get caught.
Research from South Asia Network, an ngo keeping track of the sand mining situations, found that Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh are filled with Sand Mafia gangs. Bihar’s boarders were infested with grains of sand, stored in holes, bamboos, and cement bags which were transported by large trucks late at night. All the transmission and extraction of sand leads to agricultural land loss and costal ecosystems, further leading to a decline in the quality of soil, land in these states specifically.
These illegal activites are not only degrading the quality of our ecosystems, but also are causing major riots and deaths. Media reports, villagers, localites, government officers were harmed and hurt as they raised concerns and were against the agenda of sand mining illegally. A study shows that somewhere around 418 people died and 438 people got injured in India from December 2020 to March 2022 due to situations relating to sand mining. According to SANDRP, 12 citizens and two police officers were killed by sand mafias between December 2020 and March 2022. People are harmed and killed due to the prescence of a lot of weapons and money, hence when someone objected the act of illegal sand mining, the mafia’s were easily able to strike a brutally painful threat toward these people.
An Indian official who has been up with this issue in Bihar for years said it’s impossible to stop illegal mining as “There’s too much money involved,” he stated. “Transcations get out of hand, the mafia’s have a lot of money, power and connections that it’s really hard to go against them by oneself” said by Rahul Choudhary, a lawyer who works on the legal initiative of the forest and environment.
Each year, there are road accidents, children drowning in pits, accidents during extraction, and they are all related to people who are in connection with illegal sand mining. In total, more than 100 citizens are killed and injured in india due to the existence of the “Sand Mafia’s” with tremendous power.
The government of India is trying its best to decrease sand mining and even remove the sand mafia’s out of business. The Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines 2016, Enforcement and Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining 2020, Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2006, and Sand Mining Framework are all different initiatives taken by the government to reduce sand mining illegally. All these measures focus on eliminating mining sand in huge amounts and promote sustainability, availability, affordability and transparency in sand mining. The government is even promoting an alternative for sand like copper slag or ash fly. Many countries like Singapore, China and the USA have already adapted to this alternative of sand.
Written by Ratisha Khare
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