January 16, 2015 - Page 1 EJOLT Illegal Sand Mining Conflicts in India Fact sheet 010 Introduction Ore & building materials extraction Sand mining refers to the extraction of sand from riverbeds and seashores for construction activities and for minerals Keywords such as gold, silver, silicates et cetera. It Cross-border conflict is legal when authorised or permitted by relevant governments, with assurances Illegal sand mining that existing rules and regulation will be Sand mafia followed. Illegal sand mining (hereafter Court case ISM) on the other hand—the focus of this article—includes all other Bharathapuzha riverbed turned into grazing CRZ (Coastal Regulation unauthorised extraction activities. In land Zone) Source: India Together, 14 June 2005 India, the Ministry of Forests and the Environment (MoEF) has formulated dredging that causes changes in guidelines on sand mining for both channel bed and habitat type, together riverbeds and coastal areas (Coastal with a sharp fall in groundwater table Regulation Zone, 2010; MoEF levels, leading to water scarcity and Notification, 2010). The Ministry of Mines aggravating agriculture and local is also mandated to govern sand mining. livelihoods. The increasing demand for sand (for The Bharathapuzha River, once the booming real estate and infrastructure lifeline of many villages in the Palakkad, projects, for instance), together with Thrissur and Malappuram districts of weak governance and rampant Kerela, has become a grazing ground corruption are facilitating uncontrolled covered with shrubs and weeds. and illegal mining of sand and gravel in the rivers and seas of India. ISM has In Andhra Pradesh, river sand mining been thriving in various Indian states has developed in a haphazard, irregular including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and unscientific manner. Quarrying has Haryana, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra created water stagnation in the riverbed Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Orissa and impaired the natural water flow, and West Bengal (12 March 2012, which has had grave consequences on Express News Service). It is also illegally agricultural production due to an practiced in other states like Kerala, inadequate water supply for irrigation. Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, Gujarat, Uttar The use of heavy machinery such as Pradesh, Uttarkhand, et cetera. excavators to remove sand has caused riverbeds to erode, banks to collapse, Impacts of illegal sand mining damaged infrastructure like bridges and (ISM) transmission lines, caused trees to grow on the bed and the banks, and problems ISM adversely affects the environment in drinking water systems. Uncontrolled, including rivers, sea and forests. Its illegal sand mining has caused depletion impacts vary from place to place. In of groundwater tables and degradation Eastern Uttar-Pradesh, for instance, of groundwater quality (Rao, 2006). mechanised sand mining has resulted in soil erosion and turned thousands of Along the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, acres of land infertile. In this same state, ISM is taking a toll, causing landslides, there are reports that the sand mafia destroying large tracts of mangroves and controls rivers such as the Chhoti the natural habitats of turtles and Gandak, Gurra, Rapti and Ghaghara crocodiles. According to Abdulali, from (Centre for Science and Environment, the Awaaz Foundation, “many creeks of 2011). the Konkan coast are turning into shallow pits, leading to an extinction of In Kerela, major rivers such as the their marine ecosystems” (15 June 2011, Pampa, Manimala and Achankovil have Times of India). been subjected to non-discretionary January 16, 2015 - Page 2 Sand Mining near Narangi Village. Source: http://www.awaaz.org Actors/conflicts in sand mining I. Awaaz Foundation vs. the Sand Mafia As various reports indicate, ISM Awaaz Foundation is an environmental flourishes in India because it generates NGO based in Mumbai working huge revenues that are shared among extensively on raising awareness about different stakeholders. The actors the vulnerability of the environment involved in conflicts related to both legal through educational projects in different and illegal sand mining in India are states of India. Ms. Sumaira Abdulali, usually the local people, non- Founder of Awaaz Foundation, was governmental organisations (NGOs), physically assaulted on 17 March 2010 contractors, private companies, by the son and employees of a local bureaucrats and politicians; but others, Sand Mining at Vaitarna politician, who are part of an extensive Source: http://www.awaaz.org such as religious priests (locally called politically-controlled sand mafia in Swami) are also involved. Maharashtra (17 March 2010, Times of India). Awaaz Foundation filed a case at The term sand mafia, as used by the the Bombay High Court through Public Indian media, refers to groups Interest Litigation, demanding a ban on composed of local politicians, sand mining activities along the Konkan contractors and bureaucrats, who coast of Maharashtra. The Bombay High pursue illegal extraction and resort to Court banned mining in the Coastal physical violence to do so. This may also Regulation Zone (CRZ). Moreover, the be seen as a case of Eco-Mafia, a term court ordered the state government to coined by Italian NGO Legambiente. implement the alternative measures Case studies mentioned in the report prepared by the prestigious IIT Mumbai (Indian Institute of Technology), which includes reusing Four ISM-related environmental conflicts sand from building debris and using of are presented to show how different environmentally sound techniques for people complain about such activities, sand extraction. including an environmentalist, a religious priest, a high-ranking police officer and the public. January 16, 2015 - Page 3 II. Swami vs. the Uttarakhand IV. The Sand Mafia vs. the State Public In June 2011, Hindu priest Swami The Cauvery River in Tamil Nadu has Nigamananda Saraswati died after a been seriously impacted by four-month fast in protest of reckless indiscriminate sand mining. The state-sponsored sand mining and stone groundwater table has been depleted, crushing on the banks of the world- rendering the availability of water scarce renowned Holy River Ganges, near and unsuitable for drinking. Decrease in Haridwar (a pilgrimage site) in the State soil fertility has led to a sharp decline in of Uttarakhand. Millions of pilgrims visit agricultural productivity, forcing farmers this holy place to dip in the Ganges to sell off their lands and allowing miners during Kumbh Mela to wash away their to dredge the precious sand lying Sand mining in Uttarakhand sins. A few days before Swami beneath their fields. People who realised Source: Down to Earth, 15 July 2011 Nigamanand died, the Uttarakhand their very livelihood was at stake due to government ordered a ban on mining mining, took to the streets at the call of activities in the region considered AREDS (Association for Rural Education sacred. The ban also followed a directive and Development) on several occasions. of the Uttarakhand High Court on 26 Since 1991, AREDS, together with the May 2011 that expressed concerns over local people, women’s organisations and the degradation of the river’s ecology activists, has organized several road and in general the area used for Kumbh blockades. AREDS also filed a case celebrations (15 July 2011 Down to through Public Interest Litigation Earth). (5762/90) to the Madras High Court in 1990. As a result, mining was banned in III. Narendra Kumar (IPS Cauvery banned by the High Court on Illegally-mined stones loaded Officer) vs. the Mining Mafia 25 January 1999. in Madhya Pradesh Source: Times of India, 13 March In Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Kumar Outlook 2012 (Indian Police Service, a high-ranking officer) was brutally crushed to death by Rapid economic growth, coupled with a tractor loaded with illegally-mined the drive to industrialise, has significantly stones, allegedly by the ‘mining mafia’ in increased the demand for energy and Morena on 8 March 2012. The materials, including sand. Legal sand Chhatarpur district administration mining, in line with existing regulations, ordered the cancellation of all sand mining contracts in the district after the media outrage over IPS officer Narendra Kumar's killing, and a second attack on More on this case a sub-divisional magistrate and police officials in Panna. Later, Madhya Awaaz Foundation Website: Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh awaaz.org Chouhan announced they were handing the murder case of the IPS officer over to the Central Bureau of Investigation Association for Rural (13 March 2012, Times of India). Education and Development (AREDS), women’s organizations and activists protesting ISM Source: Renganathapuram, 31 October 2010 This document should be cited as: Singh A.A., Mahongnao M., Demaria F., Krishna V.V., 2014. Illegal Sand Mining Conflicts in India, EJOLT Factsheet No. 010, 4 p. January 16, 2015 - Page 4 was not enough to meet the demand References generated by booming real estate and infrastructure projects. This has led to Down to Earth: A Swami and Sand the emergence of powerful vested Mafia, 15 July 2011 Issue. interests in different states. Riverbed Padmalal D, Maya K, Sreebha S, and seashore ecosystems have been Sreeja R. 2007. Environmental severely impacted due to ISM. The case effects of river sand mining: a case studies presented show how different from the river catchments of stakeholders have drawn attention to the Vembanad Lake, Southwest coast of issue, for very different reasons. In India, Kerela, India. Maharashtra, an environmentalist defended the ecosystems. In Rao MC, 2006. Sand Mining: Uttarakhand, a religious priest attempted Groundwater Depletion in Papagani to protect a holy place. In Madhya Catchment, Karnataka, India. Pradesh, a high-ranking police officer tried to enforce the law; and in Tamil Nadu local people mobilised to defend their livelihoods. The growing number of conflicts and court cases against sand mining should be an eye opener for the government. It must take concrete steps with ‘effective teeth’ to implement relevant norms and laws to reduce negative impacts on the environment, and also enable people to legally earn a living.