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District Survey Report for Sand Mining/River Bed Mining

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District Survey Report for Sand Mining/River Bed Mining DISTRICT SURVEY REPORT FOR SAND MINING/RIVER BED MINING (Prepared as per Gazette Notification S.O.3611 (E) Dt: 25.07.2018 of Ministry Environment, Forest & Climate Change) Prepared By: District Level Task Force, East Khasi Hills District (Constituted Vide.Government Notification Dt. 9th July, 2019) 2018-19 CONTENTS : Chapters Content Page No. 1 Introduction 1-2 2 Overview of mining activity in the district 3-4 3 List of Mining Leases in the district with 5-12 location, area and period of validity 4 Details of Royalty or revenue received in the 13 last 3 (three) years 5 Detail of production of sand or bajri or minor 13 mineral in the last 3 (three) years 6 Process of deposition of sediments in the rivers 14-20 of the district 7 General profile of the district 21 8 Land utilisation pattern in the district 22 9 Physiography of the district 22-23 10 Rainfall : Month Wise 24 11 Geology and mineral wealth 25-27 12 District wise detail of river or stream and other 28 sand source 13 District wise availability of sand orgravel or 29-34 aggregate resources 14 District wise detail of existing mining leases of 34 sand and aggregates 15 Map Showing Location of River Sand/Boulder 35 Deposits In The District. 1. INTRODUCTION East Khasi HillsDistrict is one of the 11(eleven) districts in the state of Meghalaya with Shillong being it’s headquarter. The District forms a central part of Meghalaya and covers a total geographical area of 2,748 Sq. Kms. lying approximately between 25°07” & 25°41” N Latitude and 91°21” & 92°09” E Longitude . Bounded by the plain of Ri-Bhoi District to the North and gradually rising to the rolling grasslands of the Shillong plateau interspersed with river valleys, then falls sharply in the Southern portion forming a deep gorges and ravines in Mawsynram and Shella- Bholaganj, community and rural development block, bordering Bangladesh. To the East itis bounded by Jaintia Hills District and the West Khasi Hills District to the West. The district comprises of ten Community and Rural Development blocks at present viz., KhadarshnongLaitkroh, Mawkynrew, Mawphlang, Mawryngkneng, Mawsynram, Mylliem, ShellaBholaganj, Sohiong, Mawlai and Mawpat and two civil sub-divisions i.e., Sohra and Pynursla. The population of the district as per Census 2011 is 8, 24,059 with a density of 292 per Sq. Kms covering a total of 1, 60,832 households (Excluding Institutional Households) and the literacy rate is 84.70%. The Principal language is Khasi, Jaintia&Garo with English as an official language. The main occupation of the population in the district is agriculture. Shillong is well connected by road with other places in the district as well as with the rest of the Meghalaya and Assam. Shillong is connected by road with all major north eastern states. Two major National Highways pass through East Khasi Hills District National Highway 40 connects Shillong to Jorabat, Assam in the north and extends southwards to Dawki, at Bangladesh border and National Highway 44 connects Shillong to states of Tripura and Mizoram. Mining of sand, gravel, stones and boulders from riverbeds and riverbanks has seen an unprecedented rise in the district as the demand is high in various construction works. With the soaring in demandthis has led to the unregulated and large-scale mining of sand, gravel and stones from riverbeds and riverbanks led to various environmental and social impacts. Riverbed mining causes erosion and often leaves the river-plains much more vulnerable to flooding because it allows loose landmass to be washed downstream, especially during monsoons. This type of mining can also cause salinity intrusion into the rivers, damaging riverine ecosystems,it also causes several alterations to the physical characteristics of both the river and riverbed. These can severely impact the ecological equilibrium of a river and damage plants, animals and riparian habitats. Although sand is a naturally occurring material as a result of weathering process but now it has reached a level of threatening the environment and the ecosystem.In 2013, the NGT Principal 1 Bench, New Delhi OA No. 171 of 2013issued direction to ‘restrain any person, company, authority to carry out any mining activity or removal of sand, from river beds anywhere in the country without obtaining environmental Clearance from MoEF/SEIAA and license from the competent authorities. Similarly, the Supreme Court of India in the case of Deepak Kumar Vs. State of Haryana clearly stated that sand mining on either side of the rivers, upstream and in-stream, is one of the causes for environmental degradation and also a threat to the biodiversity. It had also ordered that mining activity even in less than 5 ha is to obtain Environment Clearance for MoEF /SEIAA.The Government of India therefore in 2016 come up with the Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines to ensure environmentally sustainable mining under supervision of the district authorities. To facilitate systematic, scientific and planned utilization of mineral resources and to streamline mineral based development of the State, keeping in view, protection of environment, health and safety of the people in and around the mining areas and in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 15 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation )Act,1957 the Government of Meghalaya has therefore come up with the Meghalaya Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 2016to regulate the grant of mining leases and quarry permits in respect of the mining of minor minerals in the State and according to the Ministry of Forests, Environment and Climate Change EIA Notification dt.25th July, 2018 District Survey Report is to be prepared for every district in order to identify the areas of aggradations or depositions where mining can be allowed, identification of areas of erosion and proximity to infrastructural structures and installations where mining should be prohibited and calculation of annual rate of replenishment and allowing time for replenishment after mining in that area. Therefore, the District Task Force Committee, East Khasi Hills District has made every effort to cover sand mining locations, areas and overview of Mining activity in the district with all its relevant features pertaining to geology and mineral wealth in replenishable and non-replenishable areas of rivers, stream and other sand sources in the district to be incorporated in the report.This reportwill bea model and guiding document which is a compendium of available mineral resources, geographical set up, environmental and ecological set up of the district and is based on field survey, dataprovided by various departments, published reports, journals and websites. It will form the basis for evaluation of the application for environmental clearance, preparation of reports and appraisal of projects related to mining activity in the district. The Report will be updated once every five years. 2 2. OVERVIEW OF MINING ACTIVITY IN THE DISTRICT Meghalaya is endowed with sizeable deposits of a number of valuable minerals. Coal, limestone, uranium, granite, kaolin, clay and glass sand are the principal minerals. A brief account of mineral resources is as follows: Sl Minerals Reserves in the Grade Major places of occurrence no. State 1 Coal 576 Million Sub-bituminous, Meghalaya coal, which is tertiary tonnes high calorific coal, is generally sub-bituminous in value and high composition. The prominent sulphur content coalfields of the State are West Darrangiri, Siju, Pendengru- Balpakram in the South Garo Hills district; Borsora Langrin and Shallang in the West Khasi Hills district; East Darrangiri partly in West Khasi Hills and partly in East Garo Hills; Mawlong-Shella and Sohra-Cherrapunjee in the East Khasi Hills district and Bapung- Sutnga in the Jaintia Hills district. 2 Limestone 9304 million Cement An extensive bed of limestone tones metallurgical and occurs in the Southern part of the chemical State from Jaintia Hills in the East and Garo Hills in the West. The main deposits are found around Cherrapunjee, Mawlong, Ichamati, Shella, Komorrah in the East Khasi Hills district; Borsora and Bagli in the West Khasi Hills district; Lakadong, Lumshnong and Nongkhlieh in the Jaintia Hills district; and Darrang Era-aning, Siju, Chokpot in the South Garo Hills district. 3 Uranium Uranium - Significant occurrence of uranium deposit is found in and around Domiasiat and Porkut- Nongjri around Wahkynshi area in the West Khasi Hills District. 4 Granite 50 million cubic Table top, wall Deposits of multi-coloured granite meter cladding etc. have been located around Nongpoh in the Ri-Bhoi District; Mylliem in the East Khasi Hills District; Mawkyrwat and Nongstoin in the West Khasi Hills District; and Mendipathar and Songsak in the East Garo Hills District. 5 Clay 97 million tones White ware Sedimentary white clay is found 3 earthen ware around Cherrapunjee and Mahadek furnace lining in the East Khasi Hills; Nangalbibra curing soap etc. in the South Garo Hills and Rongrengre in the East Garo Hills District. 6 Kaoline 5.24 million White ware Good quality Kaolin (China Clay) tonnes occurs around Mawphlang, Smit and Laitlyngkot in the East Khasi Hills District; Thandlaskein, Shangpung, Mulieh and Mynsngat in the Jaintia Hills District; and Darugiri in the East Garo Hills District. 7 Iron ore - Low grade West khasi hills and East Garo Hills 8 Glass sand 3.00 million Oridanary glass Glass Sand - Glass sand is found to tones ware occur at Laitryngew, Umstew and Kreit in the East Khasi Hills and Tura in the West Garo Hills. 9 Quartz 0.5 million tones Industrial grade Quartz occurs almost in all districts in the Northern part of the State. 10 Feldspar Ceramic grade Feldspar and iron ore are reported in the Ri-Bhoi and West Khasi Hills Districts; 11 Sillimanite 50 million tones High temperature Sillimanite is found in some parts of furnace lining Mawthengkut Block at Sonapahar of the West Khasi Hills District.
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