NIRGOSH GAUDE | NT
PONDA
Despite a ban, illegal sand mining has been going on rampantly at Savoi, Volvoi, Khandola, Marcel and Borim areas of Ponda taluka. Tonnes of sand is extracted from Mandovi and Zuari riverbeds and smuggled on daily basis causing huge revenue loss to the government treasury, some conscious villagers have alleged.
The illegal sand mining has been thriving right under the nose of the authorities and even after tip-offs no action is taken against the illegality, the villagers have said.
There are around seven spots of sand extractions along the bank of Mandovi river from Savoi-Verem to Marcel and around five such spots along Zuari river.
The sand is extracted through traditional method of dragging, using bamboos and buckets. Over 25 canoes are in use to mine sand and hundreds of workers are engaged in the activity, the locals have asserted.
The mined sand is piled up openly at designated spots, and as per demand it is transported across the state.
All variants of sand are available in these areas and people, especially builders from various parts of the state, visit these spots to choose sand as per quality.
“We have complained to the Ponda police on several occasions regarding the illegality. A month ago, two-three raids were conducted and some metric tonnes of sand was seized. But what about the persons involved in it,” the locals asked.
However, Ponda police inspector Harish Madkaikar has denied the allegations on illegal sand mining.
But the fact is that nobody knows what happens to the seized sand and what the government does with it, a villager said adding that soon after the raids illegal sand mining resumes.
No wonder the concerned villagers say that they are fed up of complaining.
“It is a big nexus that facilitates illegal sand mining… the natural resource is looted openly,” rued Vikrant Mashelkar, a resident of one of the sand mining areas.
Denying the allegations, assistant public information officer in the mines department Dr Deepak Mayenkar said, “Mines officials are not demanding anything from sand miners; these allegations are baseless. We conduct raids whenever we get tip-offs on illegalities,” he maintained.
A villager lamented the loss of government revenue running into crores of rupees caused by the thriving illegal sand mining.
“On the other hand, the citizens are also suffering due to soaring prices of sand,” the villager said.
The sources claimed that prices of the sand remain high as traders have to bear the cost of maintaining the illegalities. Presently for a metre of sand, a buyer has to pay around Rs 1200 to Rs 2200, which is double than the normal price.
“To maintain the business, everyone has to be paid. And then to recover that amount we have to increase the sand rates,” said a prominent trader in sand mining, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.