Goa seeks Centre’s nod for wet river bed mining

PANAJI: Goa has asked the Union environment ministry to allow the state to carry out sand mining using traditional methods in wet river beds, environment minister Nilesh Cabral said on Wednesday. Cabral said that Goa, being a coastal state, there are no river beds that go dry during the year, and therefore the state has asked for relaxation in CRZ norms to carry out sand mining in CRZ area.
“There are two types of sand extractions. One is in the CRZ area and governed by the CRZ notification of the central government. Outside CRZ, the state governs it. We are asking for sand extraction permission in the CRZ area. In the CRZ area, it is only allowed in dry river beds, which is when there is no rain and the river bed goes dry and sand can be extracted. Otherwise, sand cannot be extracted. None of our river beds go dry. This is an issue faced by all coastal states,” said Cabral.
He said that at a meeting of the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) on September 1, Goa conveyed its request for amendment of CRZ notification for the coastal state.
“For the last two years, NIO has been carrying out a study, which shows that formation of sandbars is taking place from both sides, due to sand coming from upstream as well as from the sea into the rivers. A meeting has been fixed on September 22 with the central ministry. We will make a representation with the NIO study carried out for the rivers of Tiracol and Chapora. The NIO study has said that traditional sand extraction methods can be used to remove sand,” said Cabral.
He said that he has spoken to his counterparts in other coastal states in the country as well so that the issue of allowing sand extraction in wet river beds can be pursued with the Centre unitedly.
Recently, a shootout at the site of illegal sand extraction was seen at Curchorem, in an area within the constituency of the environment minister.
“We were not aware of this illegal sand extraction,” Cabral said. “If we were aware, action would have been taken. Police investigations are on. You may not be aware but the captain of ports had recently found similar illegal sand extraction and seized, cut up and sold to scrap 35 to 40 canoes being used for the activity. Mining comes under the purview of the mines department. But I am pursuing the issue related to CRZ with the Centre, which comes under the purview of the environment ministry,” Cabral said.