Sand Mafia is become active
again in Navi Mumbai
By Dinesh Kamath
NAVI MUMBAI: Sand
mafia is in the news again. Environmentalist and activists have raised their
voices again to protest the illegal sand mining along the coast of Kharghar,
near Morbi village. They are also complaining about the large scale destruction
of mangroves that is taking place owing to the debris being dumped in the
coastal region.
“If sand mining is allowed to continue in this manner
then Kharghar one day will lose its greenery entirely,” said an
environmentalist.
The sand miners use gunny bags and machines to perform
their act of extracting the sand and transporting them to the chosen place. The
authorities are informed about the same and they are trying their best to stop
such illegal activities and nab the culprits.
Some activists have urged the local authorities to take
the help of State Government and if necessary even the Central Government to
stop illegal sand mining in such a large scale. They also condemned the
assaulting of government officers in the past who tried to prevent the illegal
sand mining.
There is so much money in this sand mining business that
many youngsters are indulging in this criminal business without caring about
the risk factor that is involved in pursuing this business. There has been a
continuous tussle between illegal sand miners on one side and the police and
government employees on the other. It has always been a tough battle between
the two.
When an expert on sand mining was questioned about such
illegal activities, he replied “Sand mining is a practice that is used to
extract sand, mainly through an open pit. However, sand is also mined from
beaches, inland dunes and dredged from ocean beds and river beds. It is often
used in manufacturing as an abrasive, for example, and it is used to make
concrete. It is also used in cold regions to put on the roads by municipal plow
trucks to help icy and snowy driving conditions, usually mixed with salt or
another mixture to raise the freezing temperature of the road surface. Sand
dredged from the mouths of rivers can also be used to replace eroded coastline.
Another reason for sand mining is the extraction of
minerals such as rutile, ilmenite and zircon, which contain the industrially
useful elements titanium and zirconium. These minerals typically occur combined
with ordinary sand, which is dug up, the valuable minerals being separated in
water by virtue of their different densities, and the remaining ordinary sand
re-deposited.
Sand mining is a direct cause of erosion, and also
impacts the local wildlife. For example, sea turtles depend on sandy beaches
for their nesting, and sand mining has led to the near extinction of gharials
(a species of crocodiles) in India. Disturbance of underwater and coastal sand
causes turbidity in the water, which is harmful for such organisms as corals
that need sunlight. It also destroys fisheries, causing problems for people who
rely on fishing for their livelihoods.
Removal of physical coastal barriers such as dunes leads
to flooding of beachside communities, and the destruction of picturesque
beaches causes tourism to dissipate. Sand mining is regulated by law in many
places, but is still often done illegally.”
When
asked about the sand mining in Navi Mumbai, he said, “Sand mining is a practice
that is becoming an environmental issue in Navi Mumbai. Environmentalists have
raised public awareness of illegal sand mining in Navi Mumbai. Conservation and
environmental NGO Awaaz Foundation filed a public interest litigation in the
Bombay High Court seeking a ban on mining activities along the Konkan coast.
Awaaz Foundation, in partnership with the Bombay Natural History Society also
presented the issue of sand mining as a major international threat to coastal
biodiversity. It is absolutely necessary to control the mafia involved in land
grabbing and sand mining.”
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