Skip to main content

Blanket mining of construction material, river sand 'causing havoc in Indian villages'

By Bharat Dogra* 
In Kolawalpur village of Banda District (state of Uttar Pradesh), many farmers recently complained bitterly that the miners of river sand had destroyed their farms and standing crops. What is more, threat of floods in the rainy season and the river drying up in the dry season had increased due to the excessive extraction of sand from the river using heavy machines. Workers who were employed in sand mining had not been paid the wages due to them.
Similarly, in Mahawa and Bhirala villages of Sikar district (state of Rajasthan) the farmers and pastorals had been devastated by mining of stone and the use of dynamite for this. Water sources were drying up. Not just workers but even other villagers had fallen prey to stone dust related health problems including silicosis disease. After blasting work, stones were hurled here and there and could hurt anyone.
These are just two examples of how indiscriminate mining of construction materials including river-sand and various kinds of stones (as well as stone crushers attached to them) has caused havoc in tens of thousands of villages in India in recent years. 
Much of this is illegal mining. This illegality takes broadly two forms. In the first category mining lease is legal but mining is carried out much in excess of the permitted limit. In addition environmental and labor laws are widely flouted. In the second category the entire mining activity is carried out illegally.
Hence as much of the mining involves illegality, criminals and gangsters have come to the fore, earning millions in a short time and securing the collusion of politicians and police as well. When police officers have made sincere officers to stop them, even they are not spared, as happened recently when a senior police officer Surendra Singh was mowed down by a stone carrying dumper, sending shock waves far and wide.
This was by no means the first attack on a police official by the mining mafias, testifying to their arrogance and power. Attacks on social activists are even more frequent. In Sikar, for example, the villagers told me about Pradeep Sharma, an activist from a very respected family of freedom fighters, who was opposing the mining mafia and was murdered by them. 
The leading activist here, Kailash Meena, broke down while telling the tragic details of his friend’s death and injuries his other colleagues have suffered. He himself too has received many threats and has been attacked too.
Several environmental activists have warned that excessive sand mining from villages can cause very grave harm to many rivers and their smaller tributaries at a time when extreme water scarcity is already a big problem across vast areas. The miners bring in very heavy machinery right up to the riverbed. Then a temporary bund is created and sand much in excess of the safe limit is extracted. 
This excessive extraction, movements of big machinery and temporary bunds all cause much harm to fish and other aquatic life. During the rainy season the river and its banks cannot absorb adequate excess water so that during the dry season the river flow is reduced to a trickle, or it may go entirely dry. 
On the other hand the reduced capacity to absorb more water during the rainy season makes the river more prone to floods as well. As very heavy machines are taken to the river and as trucks loaded with sand are driven past the village day and night from river, the farms, pastures and paths of villages located near rivers often suffer grave harm.
At the same time, some environmental harm is at a much wider level. For example in north-west India several of the hills preventing spread of desertification have been devastated and flattened by excessive mining.
In Mahawa and Bhirala villages of Sikar district farmers and pastorals had been devastated by mining of stone, use of dynamite
Several groups have been trying to prevent this destruction. In a rare success story, women in Kolawalpur stood in the river to say prayers for protecting the river. This sight so moved many people that they joined hands together for a big protest demonstration. Finally the local administration had to accept some of their demands to reduce mining-related harm. However in most cases the activists protesting against excessive and illegal mining have faced repression and victimization.
Many workers employed in this mining work are exposed to high levels of health hazards and accident risks. Till some time back consciousness regarding silicosis disease was very low, even though it was known to be widely prevalent among stone mine workers. Following a helpful judgment of the Supreme Court of India, social activists in some parts of the country, particularly in Rajasthan, have been able to take compensatory payments to some workers or their family members. On the whole, however, conditions of workers including women workers continue to be highly precarious.
Over the years several environmental groups and labour organizations have tried to raise their voice against mining mafias. Several legal actions have also been initiated in courts and some good judgments and directives based on these have been issued by the courts. Unfortunately, despite this, the problems relating to illegal and excessive mining of construction materials have continued to become more serious. 
It is the behind the scenes involvement of powerful politicians which is responsible for the continuing capability of the mining mafias to go on with their activities more or less unhindered despite all the efforts to restrict and check them. 
The rural groups struggling in remote villages to protect their people from the ravages of indiscriminate mining often work in isolation from each other and hence cannot become a strong enough voice to change policy and/or improve implementation in a significant way. Nevertheless their continuing efforts over the years have helped to increase public consciousness regarding the harm and threats from mining mafias.
The time has now come for more unity and better coordination of these various scattered actions to achieve more important results.
---
*Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include ‘A Day in 2071’, ‘Planet in Peril’ and ‘Man over Machine'

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam*  The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'A disaster in the making': Expansion of oil palm plantations in Northeast India

By Rupa Chinai, Ravi Chellam*  Until a few decades ago, India was nearly 100% self-sufficient in edible oils, with a diverse variety of oilseeds that were grown and consumed sustainably in keeping with the ecological and climatic conditions of different regions in the country. Today, India is highly reliant on palm oil imports to meet its vegetable oil demands. 

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative  In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman  ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.