PATNA: Police, it seems, are lagging behind sand smugglers in terms of logistics and resources. As a result, illegal sand mining continues unabated in the state, senior IPS officers said.
Illegal sand mining, especially from the Sone river, has been hitting headlines since last two months as government first removed at least 60 officers from field posting and then suspended 35 of them, including IPS officers Sudheer Kumar Porika and Rakesh Kumar Dubey, for their alleged nexus with sand smugglers.
A senior IPS officer said illegal sand mining in Bihar or any other state is a deep-rooted nexus in which all stakeholders, including police, government officers and those in power corridors, are minting money.
The officer said special powerful boats of iron and steel are manufactured in several places in Saran, Bhojpur and other districts for use in sand mining from riverbeds, which is prohibited as per National Green Tribunal. “One boat costs around Rs 20 lakh,” he added.
Another senior officer said Sone yields coarse yellow sand, which is costly and used in construction. “In rest of the state, rivers mostly yield white sand useful for filling. They are of no value. That’s why illegal mining takes place only from Sone,” he said.
The officer said firms having licences mine large strips near ghats against small spots for which they are authorised. “They show mining of 50 trucks, but in reality they mine 150 trucks of sand. Weighing stations with mines department officers and police should be installed on those roads which connect main roads to mining ghats,” he said.
Dinesh Kumar Mishra, an IIT-Kharagpur alumni and a noted structural engineer who has been working at grassroots level for countering floods for several decades, said illegal sand mining is destroying water cycle and groundwater table.
“The sand on riverbed acts as a cushion. It retains water even in dry season. Even monkeys have this knowledge. I have seen monkeys in Palamu during 1993 famine digging riverbed and drinking water,” he said.
Misha said illegal sand mining has picked up in last several years and it’s now an established market and sand from Bihar is sent to other states too.
Environmentalist Dr Gopal Krishna said aquifers and surface water are getting destroyed due to sand mining. “Villages around such areas will become ghostly places in our lifetime due to non-availability of water,” he added.
Mines and geology department minister Janak Ram, however, said government’s crackdown has put a brake illegal sand mining in the state. He said sand mining remains prohibited from July to September.
“Those involved in such illegal activities are in panic. They are hiding here and there,” he said.