Published: 15th Sep, 2022
Context
Recently, several State governments and civil societies have attracted the attention of the policy makers towards the over-exploitation of river sand by mining activities and its impacts on Biodiversity and society.
About
- Sand mining is a pan-India problem.
- A United Nations study calculates that humankind’s total consumption of sand—more than 40 billion tons a year—is now double the number of sediments being replenished naturally on the Earth by the sum of the world’s rivers.
- UNEP in its report ‘Sand and Sustainability’ highlighted that the demand for sand has increased three-fold over the last decades, driven by shifting consumption patterns, growing populations, increasing urbanisation, and rapid infrastructure development.
Analysis
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Sand’s Geology
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Why the world is running out of sand?
- High rate of consumption: Sand is the most-consumed natural resource on the planet besides water. Its major uses are in brick, concrete and mortar, glass, paint, and paved Roads
- Static nature: The quantity of natural generation of sand is static.
- Illegal dealing: Due to black marketing and illegal mining of the mineral.
Impact of Sand Mining
- Alteration of Rivers: Excessive sand mining can alter the river bed, force the river to change course, eroded banks, and lead to flooding.
- Damage River Biodiversity: Degraded stream habitats result in loss of fisheries productivity, biodiversity, and recreational potential.
- Sand Mining in Chambal has impacted the population of Gharials (National Chambal Sanctuary has been established for their conservation), a critically endangered species. The mining hurts wildlife by removing basking and egg-laying habitat.
- Alter Sediment Budget: As the amount of sand reaching Oceans changes, rivers are not able to replenish the sand on beaches and in deltas.
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The sediment budget refers to the balance between sediment added to and removed from the coastal system. |
- Lead to poor water quality: Increased riverbed and bank erosion increases suspended solids in the water at the excavation site and downstream. Suspended solids may adversely affect water users and aquatic ecosystems.
Other Socio-Economic Impacts
- Worsen water scarcity
- Threat to Coastal Communities
- Damage to Public and Private Property
Provisions for Sand Mining in India
- As sand is a Minor Mineral, different State Governments have made different rules for awarding, regulating, and administering the sand concessions.
- To curb Illegal mining, there have been variousjudicial interventions by the Supreme Court (SC) and National Green Tribunal (NGT).
- The National Green Tribunal in August 2013 passed an order banning sand mining without proper environment clearance.
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has released “Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines 2016” to promote the scientific mining of sand and encourage environmentally friendly management practices.
- Indian government’s Ministry of Mines has also developed a Mining Surveillance System (MSS) to use space technology for facilitating State governments in curbing illegal mining activities in the country.
- UnderSection 120B read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, extraction of sand without a legal permit is a punishable offence.
What measures are needed?
- Strengthen Policy Framework: Regulations that have been bought, have not worked properly, mainly due to lackadaisical implementation.
- Alternatives to Sand
- M-sand - is sand made from rock by artificial processes, usually for construction purposes in cement or concrete
- Sand segregation from overburden of coal mines
- Reducing consumption of sand
- By optimizing the use of existing buildings and infrastructure.
- Using recycled buildings and quarry dust material as a substitute for sand.
- Reducing the negative consequences of extraction
- By calculating the total annual bed load and restricting mining activities up to that value or less.
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