Recently the United Nations organization UNEP has released a report. It has been told in this report that after water, the second largest natural resource used by people is ‘sand’ and ‘pebbles’. The new report emphasized that sand should be recognized as a strategic resource given our dependence on sand.
UNEP’s Grid-Geneva team on Sand and Sustainability Crisis offered 10 strategic recommendations for preventing. Concern was raised on how the extraction of sand should be done properly. It was told in this report that every year 50 billion tonnes (5 billion tons) of sand and pebbles are used in construction work around the world.
Until a few decades ago, sand mining was done around the Ghats. Living was the work of poor families. But gradually the demand for sand increased and with the increase in demand, the price of sand also started getting fixed.
Sand mining has been going on indiscriminately in Bihar. Experts claim that the government also started seeing ‘huge profits’ in sand in Bihar and it was made a source of income through mining leases, licenses and auctions.
However, in the year 2017 Sand mining has been banned in Bihar from July 1 to September 30. But in the last year 2022, it was banned from June 1. The reason for this was the serious shortage of material required for construction like sand. Sand prices shot up after the ban, leading to a spurt in illegal mining.
How difficult it is to stop illegal sand mining in Bihar
Illegal extraction operations A young observer told the English website Scroll that sand mining may be banned on paper but the reality is completely different. Son Ka Kinara is considered to be the center of illegal sand mining, but there are many areas in Bihar where sand is extracted in large quantities. He said, ‘Outsiders are not allowed to enter Son’s area during day and night. Hundreds of barges are filled with sand from the Son river and sent to Patna, Saran and Vaishali districts.
Son ka baalu of Bihar means ‘gold’
According to the United Nations Environment Program, China and India are the biggest hubs of sand mining. In both these countries, sand is extracted on a large scale. The yellow sand of Son, which is locally known as "Golden" It is said to be of the best quality, it is most in demand. It is mined on a large scale.
There is no official data about the scale of sand mining in Bihar. A senior official of the Bihar State Pollution Control Board told Scroll on the condition of anonymity that we do not have any accurate data on how much sand is being extracted in the state. Police and geology department officials repeatedly claim that they have cracked down on such operations but the fact is that a large part of the sand trade is illegal.
Sand Mafia and sand mining is the most profitable business in Bihar "Alliance" Promotes illegal sand mining on a large scale. Sand mining is a way to earn a lot of money with less investment. On the other hand, it will cause loss to the state exchequer. There is massive loss of land and exploitation of the resource. Chandrasekhar expressed concern that stopping illegal sand mining is a big challenge as money drives everything. The sand mafia has both money and muscle power.
Last year, 1,123 vehicles and over 600,000 cubic feet of sand were seized in Bihar’s Bhojpur within three months. In this whole case, 58 people were arrested. 133 complaints were also filed with the police, but allegations of complicity also surfaced on the police.
District Mining Officer of Bhojpur district, Anand Prakash told the media that there was some illegal trade of sand at Pahleja Ghat. Contractors allege that Sonpur police station was paid Rs 8-9 lakh per day to allow over 150 loaded trucks to pass through.
Last year the then Bihar Minister of Mines and Geology Janak Ram publicly admitted that the state government suffers an annual loss of around Rs 70 million due to illegal sand mining. But sources close to the sand mafia estimate that illegal sand mining is worth more than Rs 20-300 million annually.
The Bihar government wants to increase its revenue from sand mining?< /strong>
The Bihar government had implemented liquor ban in 2016. According to Scroll’s report, the Bihar government wanted to compensate for the loss by increasing its revenue from sand mining. The Bihar government’s sand policy also aims to generate sustainable, local employment. But the laborers working in sand mining are not safe.
According to a BBC report The laborer working on the banks of Son river says that he is afraid for his life, as he is on the banks of the river. They go up 30 to 40 feet, so if the sand pile collapses, they can be buried there.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, officials of the State Mines and Geology Department It is said that sand mining was going on in 16 out of 38 districts before the ban. From October 1 in the year 2022, the department has planned to start mining in 28 districts.
Director of Mines and Geology Department of Bihar, Mohd. Nayyar Khan told BBC that in the last financial year i.e. year 2022-23, the government has earned Rs 2650 crore from sand business. It also includes a small portion of the brick business.
During the last financial year, about 23,000 raids were conducted across the state to stop the illegal business of sand and in this the department also recovered a fine of Rs 300 crore.
How sand became an employment crisis in Bihar
Traditional occupation of the people living on the banks of the rivers in Bihar is sand mining and transportation. Vidyarti Vikas, professor of economics at AN Singha Institute, told the BBC that 20 to 30 percent of the laborers in Bihar are those who work in sand or its related fields. This includes everything from sand mining to sand transportation and construction industry.
In such a situation, when the price of sand increases, the work in the construction industry slows down and the crisis of livelihood starts in front of these laborers. On the other hand, whenever the government takes strict action on sand mining, it affects everything from sand mining to construction industry.
On the other hand, the people living on the banks of the ghats feel that the government has taken away their traditional occupation by taking control of the sand ghats. With the introduction of contracting, sand sellers have also become laborers.
Let us tell you that the Bihar State Road Construction Department issued an order on March 10, 2021, banning sand mining around rivers and under-construction bridges across the state.
Please tell that at present in Bihar There are 524 big sand ghats. From where sand can be officially mined. Most of the complaints come from South Bihar with names of rivers flowing through it including Falgu, Panchane, Sakri, Son, Punpun, Badua, Chanan and Goithwa. In Bihar, for the last decade, sand ghats are auctioned by the government.
Statistics of the Ministry of Mines, Government of India, says that due to the demand in the cities around which sand is not present, the prices of sand are touching the sky. The ministry has told in its framework for the year 2018 that in cities like Bangalore and Mumbai, the cost of a truckload of sand ranges from Rs 70 thousand to one lakh. According to the ministry, a ‘conglomerate’ has formed in many areas of people involved in mining and its transport.
When and how did the demand for sand boom
UNEP told in the report that the amount of sand and pebbles that would be needed to build a wall of 27 meters thick and 27 meters high around the earth, that is, about eight storeys, the same amount of sand and pebbles would be spent in the construction work on the earth every year. goes.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Mines, the growth rate of the construction industry in India was less than three percent during the year 2011-15, the growth rate of the construction industry was estimated to be six percent between the years 2016-20. According to the India Water Portal, about 1.5 billion tonnes of sand was estimated to be used in construction work in India in the year 2020.
A BBC report states that till the year 1970, sand was generally available in India for free. People had to pay the cost of transportation to bring it from the river ghat to the place of construction. As the development progressed, the construction work increased and with the increasing demand, there was also a shortage of sand.
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