Uttar Pradesh Yamuna Aug 2024: NGT Com Finds Sand Mining Rules Violated

August 24, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Feb. 2024 screengrab of a video clip shows instream mechanized sand mining going on in Yamuna river during night hours at Mandawar village in Kairana tehsil of Shamli, UP)

A joint committee formed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Delhi has found gross violations of several rules in a sand mining project on Yamuna river in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh. The joint committee was formed by principal bench on NGT comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and Justice Dr. A. Senthil Vel on May 13, 2024, to ascertain the correct factual position through ground visit while hearing a petition filed by local resident Farukh Chouhan.

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Sand Mining

May-June 2024: Sand Mafias Mowed Three Policemen to Death

June 30, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

Three policemen have lost their lives in three different incidents related to illegal sand mining activities in May-June 2024. In the first incident a policeman Rohit Kumar Pancholi was killed at night on June 8 in Uttar Pradesh. The 24-year-old Constable was trying to stop a tractor-trolley involved in illegal sand mining in Nagla Chandan area of Farrukhabad district.

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Sand Mining

Why Existing Rules, Regulations Fail to Deter Illegal Sand Miners of Ken River?

April 6, 2024May 1, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Screenshot of Bundeli Junction video report dated Nov. 19, 2023 on large scale mechanized, instream sand mining in Ken river in Banda district. )

Ken is lifeline of Bundelkhand and among key tributaries of Lower Yamuna basin. The river is relatively clean and free of industrial pollution. However, its existence is under threat due to catchment degradation and the proposed Ken-Betwa interlinking proposal. Apart from this, the river eco-system and dependent people have been at receiving end of large scale mechanized and unsustainable, mostly illegal mining practices for the past many years.

Some recent short video clips, media reports and satellite images have again revealed that sand miners continue to indulge in river destructive mining activities in government approved mine sites in three districts of two states namely Panna and Chhatarpur districts of Madhya Pradesh and in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh. The miners here have blatantly violated the existing mining rules, MoEF guidelines and NGT orders while the respective regulatory agencies have miserably failed to enforce the laws and ensure compliance.

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Sand Mining

Uttar Pradesh: Ken River ravaged by Illegal Sand Miners in Banda

April 21, 2023April 26, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: March 2022 Google Earth image showing excessive mechanized mining in Ken river at Chatkan meander in Banda)

Ken river one of the important tributaries of Yamuna in lower segment has been witnessing industrial scale riverbed mining in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh. The Sentinel Hub satellite images reveal the mechanized mining of morrum (light orange colour sand) has been going on unabated at multiple locations in the district. Recent local media reports have also highlighted the illegalities and violations of the rules by the miners.

The information on Directorate of Mining & Geology website shows that there are 50 sand mine sites in Banda district of which 36 sites are closed. The complete list of 50 closed and active sand mine sites in Banda can be seen here.

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Sand Mining

2023: Riverbed Mining Deaths & Violence in South India

March 21, 2023March 21, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: The spot where the 7 girls were drowned (in sand mine pit) at A. Kuchipalayam, near Cuddalore, in Tamil Nadu on June 5, 2022. The Hindu)

This report (fourth part of our series on this subject in 2023) summarizes the detailed compilation tracking the human death toll and violent incidents related to illegal and unsustainable riverbed mining activities in Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 11 months between April 2022 and February 2023. The first three parts of the series have covered sand mining related human casualties and violence in North, East and West Zones for the same period.

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Sand Mining

2023: Riverbed Mining Deaths & Violence in WEST INDIA

March 15, 2023March 15, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Wreckage of sand laden tractor after collision with sand loaded truck in Dholpur, Rajasthan in June 2022. Image Source: Patrika)

After analysis of the riverbed mining related deaths and violence incidents in North and East Indian states in Part one and Part two between April 2022 and February 2023, this third part in the series presents the summary of detailed compilation on the topic in West Indian states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa for the period.

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Sand Mining

2023: Riverbed Mining Deaths & Violence in East India

March 8, 2023April 4, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: A sand loaded truck overturned on a passenger auto killing 5 people & injuring 5 others in Motihari, Bihar in Sept. 2022. Image Source: Dainik Jagran)

In this second part, SANDRP present summary report on riverbed minerals mining related human deaths and violent incidents in East Indian states of Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and in North Eastern states of Assam and Manipur during April 2022 to February 2023. The detailed tabular report compiling all these incidents in past 11 months can be seen here. The first part of the series tracking the human death toll on account of illegal, unsustainable sand mining activities in North Indian states for the same period can be seen here.

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Sand Mining

2023: Riverbed Mining Death & Violence in North India

March 3, 2023April 4, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

( A dumper driver being rescued from smashed cabin of a dumper after it rammed into a stationary sand loaded truck causing death of a mechanic in Varanasi in May 2022. Source: Amar Ujala)

The unsustainable and unlawful riverbed mining activities in India have not only been damaging the precious river eco-systems, livelihoods of riparian communities and crucial public infrastructures but also have been causing untimely, avoidable deaths of innocent people including common citizens, villagers, farmers, activists, reporters and government officials.

For the past five years, SANDRP has been trying to track the sand mining related deaths and violence in India. Like previous years, we have prepared a compilation of reports and this summary report on human death toll due to sand mining related violence and accidents during April 2022 and February 2023 in North Indian states and Union Territories including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi. We would publish similar reports for North East & East, West, South Zones and final summary report on the topic soon.

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Sand Mining

Riverbed Mining 2022: Judiciary tries but fails to bring effective change

February 3, 2023February 6, 2023 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image: Screen shot of The Power Time Dec. 2022 video news report revealing large scale mechanized, illegal sand mining in Sone rivers in Sonbhadra district Uttar Pradesh)

Judiciary has been striving to remedy the lawless situation currently dominating riverbed mining in India. The year 2022 has been full of court cases and orders dealing with unsustainable and illegal riverbed mining operations. In this yearend overview, we have reported top ten judicial interventions to control exploitative minor mineral mining by various state governments and to make the regulators accountable against the illegalities & violations.

In 1^st part of the annual Sand Mining overviews, we tracked the adverse impacts of riverbed mining activities on freshwater species and rivers’ eco-system. In 2^nd part, we covered the riverine community’s agitations against destructive riverbed mining. The 3^rd part highlighted the damages and threats to infrastructures by excessive, mechanized riverbed mining.

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Sand Mining

2022 Riverbed Mining: 5 Bridges Collapsed, 22 Threatened

January 25, 2023March 3, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

The indiscriminate, mechanized riverbed mining activities are not only impacting the river eco-systems and dependent communities in multiple adverse ways, but are also damaging the river based infrastructures including road bridges, railway bridges, embankments, irrigation channels and potable water supply schemes for past many years. We have put together reports on infrastructural damages and threats due to excessive riverbed mining in India in 2022. Our 2021, 2018 reports on this topic can be seen by clicking the links.

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