by Urooja Nazir
As per the World Wildlife Fund, sand is the most extractive resource. To put it thus, sand mining is done to meet up the demands of ever rising construction industry which is currently taking leaps and bounds to catch up with the rising urbanisation. But this is done at the cost of rivers which thus change their course affecting marine lives further causing floods to the worse. Sand, a granule material that is composed of finely divided rock and minerals. Illegal sand mining is the extraction of sand from rivers, streams lakes, etc. without any legal license or government permission. Today sand has become very important because it is used in all kinds of construction activities e.g. It is used in making bricks, concrete, plastering, roofing, mortals, paint, roads, petroleum, and fracking. It is also used in liquid form to manufacture glass.
But people in the current era become materialistic they only Think about their own benefits without taking care of others. As we know in present times illegal sand mining is done everywhere because it benefits materialistic people but its impacts are vast and wide. Sand mining erodes rivers and coastlines, disrupting the ecosystem and also hurts livelihood.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme India ranks second after China in the list of critical hotspots for sand extraction. About 50 billion tonnes are extracted from lakes, riverbeds, and coastlines.
Impacts of illegal sand mining
Excess of sand mining can erode banks and lead to flooding and it also lowers the concentration of sand. Excess sand mining is also a threat to bridges and it also affects the ground water system, shrinks river banks and it also destroys the water quality . These destructive effects of excessive sand mining lead to the loss of fertile land. It also affects science, beauty, climate and damages infrastructure.
Impacts on Environment
Sand mining is the biggest threat to living organisms which include aquatic animals. The ecological sand mining areas are getting unstable as it destroys the beauty of such areas. It disturbs wildlife living in ecosystems . It leads to a loss of biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variation among living organisms on the earth. Each species has a unique value in maintaining ecological balance. The loss of species will create an ecological imbalance. Sand mining in sea beaches results in the loss of nesting sites of some organisms like turtles and crocodiles. As a result, these organisms find it difficult to lay their eggs and therefore their population goes on decreasing.
The ill effects of sand mining are not limited to only these organisms, dwelling near sea beaches have also a heavy impact on the organisms living in freshwater bodies. Mining of sand at a large scale using excavators increases the turbidity of the surrounding water. As a result, light does not properly penetrate the ecological pyramid of the required light for photosynthesis.
Moreover, excessive sand extraction from the rivers interferes with the breeding activities of the fish thus decreasing their population. One of the major negative impacts of excessive sand extraction is the change in the course of the rivers. Illegal sand mining forces the rivers to change their path as a result many areas become vulnerable to severe floods. When boulders and sand are removed excessively from the rivers is an unscientific and illegal way, the speed of water in these rivers increases with this the erosional capacity of the river increases. Boulders and sand act as buffers between moving river water and river beds.
Excessive sand extraction creates big ditches and pits. This has caused a decline in the groundwater table in the surrounding areas. Sand in the river beds holds a lot of water and contains water even during dry summer . Illegal sand mining has already pushed many rivers to the verge of drying up forever. Sand is an important source of groundwater discharge. It also acts as a link between the following river and water table.
Social Impact
The main reason of illegal sand mining is the unholy nexus between politicians and sand manifest with the support of some politicians, many checking officials are being mishandled, threatened, and even murdered.
Effects on Health
Moreover, sand mining affects human health as well, which in turn increases the rate of mortality cases. In general, it has infinite bad effects both economically as well as socially. In order to get rid of these bad effects of sand mining we have to use it merely we have to follow the rules given by the government.
Information at Ground Level
As I have talked so many people who are doing this sand mining I get several responses from them. According to them, they get both benefits and losses from this. By doing illegal Sand Mining many poor people lose their lives because it is mostly done by poor people because of their financial problems. So they lost their lives.
Some important Acts
Illegal sand mining in India is defined under section 3€ of the Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation Act, 1957 (mmdr Act.). This law has been implemented by the Government to prevent illegal Sand Mining.
As per the Union Ministry of Mines, sand is 4th important minor mineral in terms of production after road metals, building stone and brick earth. Irrupt of that Government does not collect data on the volume of illegal Sand Mining.
The Supreme Court of India taking cognizance of the illegal sand mining in various parts of the country. Recently while hearing the plea the Supreme Court said compensation or penalty to be paid by indulging in illegal sand mining can’t be restricted to the value of illegally mined minerals. The court assigned that as per the polluter pays principle the absolute penalty for harming the environment extends not only to compensate the victims of pollution but also the cost of restoring the environment degradation.
In short
We need to extract sand from rivers sustainably. We have to keep in mind the needs of future generations also. If we extract sand from rivers excessively then we leave nothing for future generations because its concentration will decrease. It is a natural resource we need to conserve and prevent it.
The author is pursuing Bachelors degree in Economics. She can be mailed at uroojanazir12@gmail.com
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