Ozhukanam Puzhakal: UNTO HER WE SHALL RETURN…

February 23, 2019March 27, 2019 SANDRPLeave a comment

Guest Blog by Dr Manju Vasudevan

Two artists are engrossed in some meaningful graffiti work at a public bus stand, on an otherwise laid back, colourless Sunday morning. A closer look and their strokes in fact seem to be urging the passerby to pay attention to rivers and water resources. There seems to be a message to all the drawings. It is not often that one comes across a sight like this in small town Chalakudy in Kerala. The artists have teamed up with the Chalakudy River Protection Forum under the umbrella of a State-wide campaign titled ‘Ozhukanam Puzhakal’ or ‘The Rivers Must Flow’. Continue reading “Ozhukanam Puzhakal: UNTO HER WE SHALL RETURN…” →

Sand Mining

East India Sand Mining 2018: Will NGT order help restore Subarnarekha River?

February 21, 2019March 12, 2019 SANDRPLeave a comment

Bihar Unsustainable sand mining causing floods in West Champaran The sand mining in the rivers of West Champaran was causing unmitigated floods in the region, year after year but the govt failed to respond.

– West Champaran district also sees many floods in the non-monsoon months, many of which go unreported, and often, ignored by flood-relief schemes. The natural explanation for the flash floods is that the region is at the foothills and rivers from the hills of bordering Nepal flow through it. But the floods are not entirely a result of natural phenomena. Over the years, excessive sand mining in the river beds has led to ecological imbalances, making rivers and streams flood and even change their course, wreaking havoc in the villages along their banks.

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Sand Mining

North East India Sand Mining 2018: Emerging threat to Rivers

February 19, 2019February 19, 2019 SANDRPLeave a comment

Thoubal River

Manipur DFO bans mining in Thoubal river Showing serious concerns to the degradation of the Thoubal River as well as its environment, a team of state police and Forest department officials led by District Forest Officer (DFO) RK Amarjit paid surprise visit at Moirang Purel and Itham area under Andro Assembly constituency where sand mining was underway at mass scale. During the inspection visit the govt official saw illegal excavation of soil from nearby hills of the area and dump it at Thoubal River for extraction of red sand.

As the mining of sand not only endangered the forest area of the surroundings but also degrades the condition of the Thoubal River, the DFO put immediate ban on the sand mining as well as excavation at hills of the surroundings. He also ordered ban on transportation of red sand in Thoubal and Kakching district. http://kanglaonline.com/2017/11/dfo-thoubal-swings-into-action-bans-sand-mining-at-thoubal-river/ (21 Nov. 2017)

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Dams · Sand Mining

Maharashtra Sand Mining 2018: Panegaon shows Way To stop Illegal Sand Mining

February 18, 2019February 18, 2019 SANDRPLeave a comment

According to data from the Ministry of Mines, Maharashtra state recorded 26,628 cases of illegal mining in 2017, the highest across the country. In 2018, data up to June showed 2,751 cases. Between 2013 and 2018, 2,228 people were booked for illegal mining, one court case was filed, and 163,366 vehicles were seized. The fines collected for illegal mining over 6 years was ₹ 365 Crores.

As per another report, Maharashtra has highest number of cases of non-compliance of sustainable sand mining management guidelines, 2016. According to data submitted in the Lok Sabha, the ministry received 7 major complaints regarding non-compliance in 2017, out of which 6 were from Maharashtra and one from Himachal Pradesh. The highest number of illegal mining instances have been recorded in the state as per data by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change. It recorded around 139,700 illegal mining cases between 2013 and 2017.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP: 18 Feb 2019: Salutes to the Mithi River Clean up Effort

February 18, 2019February 26, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

As this report narrates, a great volunteer effort is underway in Mumbai to clean up Mithi river. What they have achieved is just about 350 m of clean river, after labouring over weekends for several months. But this is such a daunting task to even venture to start. They have not only started, but made visible progress. Let us hope it will achieve all its objectives.

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Sand Mining

Kerala Sand Mining 2018: How a 17 year Allapad girl became anti sand mining icon

February 17, 2019 SANDRP1 Comment

Kerala – the God’s own country is in strong grip of unsustainable sand mining which has been happening for decades in the rivers and coastal areas of the state. The state has suffered hugely in 2004 Tsunami and 2018 Floods which, as several reports explain, were aggravated by illegal sand extraction. Yet nothing seems to have changed. Apart from violation of environmental norms, the extraction of finite mineral is going on, ignoring the nature’s warnings.

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Sand Mining

Tamil Nadu Sand Mining 2018: Story of Nexus exposed by a brave Journalists

February 17, 2019February 17, 2019 SANDRPLeave a comment

Brave Journalists exposes the Nexus supporting illegal sand mining in Tamil Nadu

Reporter honoured for exposing illegal mining On January 4, 2019, Sandhya Ravishankar was conferred Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award for her reportage on illegal beach sand mining in Tamil Nadu. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/news18-editor-m-gunasekaran-becomes-1st-tamil-journalist-bag-ramnath-goenka-award-94522 (5 Jan. 2019)

Journalist stalked after reports on sand mafia Sandhya Ravishankar, Chennai-based journalist alleges multiple attempts to stalk and intimidate her in the recent past after she wrote a series of reports on the sand mafia. She is also fighting defamation cases. https://www.firstpost.com/india/chennai-based-journalist-sandhya-ravishankar-alleges-stalking-intimidation-after-reports-on-sand-mining-mafia-5295131.html (1 Oct. 2018)

Explosive reports on illegal beach sand mining in Tamil Nadu by Sandhya Ravi Shankar: Her report first person singular on Jan 31, 2017 provides blow by blow account of how the nexus involved in illegal sand mining was exposed. (https://thewire.in/culture/beach-sand-cartel, https://thewire.in/tag/beach-sand-mining)

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Sand Mining

Karnataka Sand Mining 2018: Hopeless, But Action Packed!

February 13, 2019February 13, 2019 SANDRP1 Comment

Karnataka is one of the leading states to witness the devastating effects of rampant sand mining. Between 2015 and 2018, the state has officially registered 20,779 cases of illegal sand mining, and 9,599 FIRs.

The state govt is receiving approximately Rs 150 crore per year as royalty from legitimate sand mining. As per estimates, the state govt is losing around Rs 200 crore per year due to illegal sand mining.

According to cement manufacturing companies’ data, around 18 million tonnes (MT) of cement is sold in the state every year. The cement-sand mix ratio is either 1:4 or 1:6 (four or six bags of sand per cement bag). Even if 1:4 ratio is taken, 72 MT of sand is approximately used in the state every year.

The official data from the Department of Mines and Geology shows that from the blocks permitted by it, a total quantity of 30 MT of sand (from all types of blocks – river sand, patta land, blocks allocated to govt departments, and manufactured sand) is produced in the state. Thus, there is a difference of at least 42 MT sand compared to the cement sold in the state.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP: 11 Feb 2019: Questions over legitimacy of Dam Bachao Abhiyaan

February 11, 2019February 26, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

The Dam Bachao Abhiyaan has been coming up in various forms. They blame the upstream water use in the catchment for dams not filling up. The catchment area could be using the water through groundwater (e.g. Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad), Johads (e.g. Sahibi catchment in Alwar), Tanks (e.g. Cauvery catchment in Karnataka), or check dams (e.g. Gandhisagar catchment in Madhya Pradesh, Bisalpur and Ramgarh catchment in Rajasthan), the latest episode reflected in the news below.

One key question that is never answered is, does the construction of dam extinguish all the rights of the catchment area to harvest and use any water for even basic needs and livelihoods? Does the very existence of the dam make all such water use in the catchment illegitimate? What about the right to water and livelihood of the catchment area? Should dam filling be so sacrosanct as to not allow any legitimate water use in the catchment? Hope the court and the government resolves these issues. Hope there is debate on this to decide in which circumstances there will be legitimacy to such Dam Bachao Abhiyaan.

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Sand Mining

Madhya Pradesh Sand Mining 2018: Unprecedented Violence by Sand Mafia

February 8, 2019February 13, 2019 SANDRP1 Comment

Madhya Pradesh is one of the worse affected states as far as illegal sand mining is concerned. Over the years unsustainable sand mining has caused great damage to Narmada and its tributaries. The Ken, Betwa, Sindh, Chambal and Son rivers which join Yamuna and Ganga rivers has also been facing severe threats from ongoing illegal sand extraction.

Even in 2018, there was no significant improvement in this regard. There were attacks on govt officials and media persons for exposing illegal sand mining. The state govt failed to stop the illegal sand extraction.

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