Rajasthan
Sand Mining: Illegal deep sand mining continues; fingers pointed at mafia-neta nexus | Jaipur News
At 10pm on November 4, a string of overloaded dumpers passed through the no-entry zone in Tonk cityand headed for a narrow road leading to Chuli Rapta village on the outskirts of the city. A TOI team followed the dumpers and found several hillock-like structures around 25-30 metres high and 70-80 meters long on either side of the road a few kilometres ahead of Chuli Rapta village.The dumpers started unloading the bajri (gravelly sand) they had transported illegally from the banks of the Banas River nearby.
The hillock-like structures near Chuli Rapta turned out to be mounds of bajri stored there illegally. A government official confirmed that the stock was illegal as the land was non-commercial.
As a few men guarding the illegal stock approached the TOI team and started defensive inquiries, the team managed to evade them and headed to the villages nearby. In several villages such as Gehlod, Mundia, Doorwadi, Lach and Khalilpura in the catchment area of the Banas River, one can see illegal mining of bajri going on in full swing. The TOI team found the same scene on November 5, and the locals said it is an everyday occurrence.
Scores of JCB machines were at work, loading bajri from the riverbed and agricultural farms onto hundreds of dumpers. Sand was being extracted even from the core of Banas River, and the machines worked non-stop. Less rainfall this year than usual has unleashed illegal mining of sand across the region, said sources in the trade.
Almost 500-700 dumpers seen moving in the area do not exist in government records, admitted officials. While authorised sand mining is disallowed between 6pm and 8am, illegal sand mining is taking place 24 hours a day and all days of the week. It seemed to hardly matter that several of these spots are close to police checkpoints.
Over 1,000 trucks linked to the bajri trade head into and out of Tonk city every night, flouting the rules. Even the villagers make a fast buck by transporting bajri on camel carts. Some villagers also impose a “tax” of Rs 100 (sometimes Rs 200) per dumper passing through their villages.
“We have complained to the authorities about illegal sand mining several times, presenting them evidence of mining being done below the permissible depth of 3 metres. Illegal mining goes as deep as 10 metres, disturbing the layer responsible for recharging the groundwater table. The state government and administration seem to have surrendered to the sand mafia. No leader raises the issue even during the elections,” said Mohammed Ahsan Khan, a social activist based in Tonk.
Ramkesh Meena, the deputy pradhan at Tonk panchayat samiti, has organised several protests and demonstrations against illegal mining. “Some of the most powerful people are linked to the sand mafia. We have seen no response from the present government. We hope the new government will listen to us or else we will hit the roads again,” said Meena.
The hillock-like structures near Chuli Rapta turned out to be mounds of bajri stored there illegally. A government official confirmed that the stock was illegal as the land was non-commercial.
As a few men guarding the illegal stock approached the TOI team and started defensive inquiries, the team managed to evade them and headed to the villages nearby. In several villages such as Gehlod, Mundia, Doorwadi, Lach and Khalilpura in the catchment area of the Banas River, one can see illegal mining of bajri going on in full swing. The TOI team found the same scene on November 5, and the locals said it is an everyday occurrence.
Scores of JCB machines were at work, loading bajri from the riverbed and agricultural farms onto hundreds of dumpers. Sand was being extracted even from the core of Banas River, and the machines worked non-stop. Less rainfall this year than usual has unleashed illegal mining of sand across the region, said sources in the trade.
Almost 500-700 dumpers seen moving in the area do not exist in government records, admitted officials. While authorised sand mining is disallowed between 6pm and 8am, illegal sand mining is taking place 24 hours a day and all days of the week. It seemed to hardly matter that several of these spots are close to police checkpoints.
Over 1,000 trucks linked to the bajri trade head into and out of Tonk city every night, flouting the rules. Even the villagers make a fast buck by transporting bajri on camel carts. Some villagers also impose a “tax” of Rs 100 (sometimes Rs 200) per dumper passing through their villages.
“We have complained to the authorities about illegal sand mining several times, presenting them evidence of mining being done below the permissible depth of 3 metres. Illegal mining goes as deep as 10 metres, disturbing the layer responsible for recharging the groundwater table. The state government and administration seem to have surrendered to the sand mafia. No leader raises the issue even during the elections,” said Mohammed Ahsan Khan, a social activist based in Tonk.
Ramkesh Meena, the deputy pradhan at Tonk panchayat samiti, has organised several protests and demonstrations against illegal mining. “Some of the most powerful people are linked to the sand mafia. We have seen no response from the present government. We hope the new government will listen to us or else we will hit the roads again,” said Meena.
