Dinesh Kamath's news 'Illegal sand mining in full swing in city' that was published in Newsband

Illegal sand mining in full swing in city

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: Environmentalists in Raigad district are very much concerned about the illegal sand mining that is taking place here in a big way. They tried to get the authorities to take stern action against this practice but in vain. They even brought to the notice of Chief Minister of the state these illegal happenings. They took photographs of sand miners to show to the CM. When they had taken the matter to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), all that the tribunal did was issue an order that such activities are illegal and should be stopped. But the local authorities fail to implement these orders.

The sand mafia use powerful suction pumps to collect the sand. At some places only, manual sand mining happens.

Sand mining is a common practice in coastal areas where there are beaches but in Raigad district this type of activity is being done in most surreptitious manner and by breaking the laws relating to sand mining. The sand collected are then loaded on the boats or trucks and transported to places where they are stored and sold to people who pursue construction business.

Sand mining is dangerous also for the reasons that they lead to destruction of mangroves in the area and also there is danger of landslides taking place thus putting the lives of villagers under threat.

Navi Mumbai police are trying hard to prevent, stop or minimize illegal sand mining activities. In fact, they have managed to seize illegally mined sand, boats and suction pumps and even arrested many illegal sand miners. But the police are of the view that they cannot bring under control such illegal activities without the cooperation of the local authorities who, they suspect, are hand-in-glove with these illegal sand miners.