Sand Mining In The River Ganga​ - Destroying Ecology, Devastating Environment

Sand mining in riverbeds is a practice that is used to extract sand through mining from riverbeds. Sand mining is a direct cause of erosion and also impacts the local wildlife. Here, Dr Rakesh Agrawal ‘Ridh’ points out the adverse impacts of sand mining in the River Ganga on the ecology and environment of Uttarakhand and particularly low-lying regions such as Haridwar. Excessive instream sand and gravel mining causes the degradation of rivers. He also highlights the struggle undertaken by the religious leaders of a Haridwar-based Ashram, Matri Sadan, to protest against the sand mining activities imposed by the State Government.

When a separate hill state of Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in November 2000, largely because of the struggle for it by the people, especially hill women, people hoped that it would be their dream state, where pro-people developmental policies would take shape; they also hoped that mindless exploitation of natural resources would be halted. However, these hopes have been belied each time by the governments of the new state, irrespective of the ruling political party.

The pursuit of development rests on the old paradigm: development at all cost, results into a plethora of dams and hydro-electricity projects. Unapologetically, they displace people and devastate lives at large in the upper hilly region and unhindered river mining in the plain, low-lying regions, such as Haridwar, Nainital, and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

Struggle Against Sand Mining Practice