Thane: Notwithstanding the ban on sand dredging, the extraction of natural resources from river and creek beds in Thane district continues unabated and is a flourishing business.
Going by talks with government officials, police, transporters and the sand mafia here, it is estimated that more than 5,000 trucks filled with tonnes of valuable resources is extracted every day to feed constructions sites in the district, Mumbai and even Gujarat. The district revenue officials have raided several illegal sand mining spots in the last one year and seized about 6,000 trucks.
A senior revenue officer at Thane said that The National Green Tribunal in Pune had directed the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) in 2013 to arrive at a decision on whether to continue or stop offshore resource extractions. The MMB was to issue permits for sand mining in the coastal belt of Maharashtra, but not before conducting an environment impact assessment, said the officer. The same was being awaited in Thane. However, revenue officials said the mining activities were reportedly going on unabated.
Thane district is one of the major sources of sand obtained from four rivers — Ulhas, Surya, Vaitarna and Tansa — besides Vasai and Thane creeks. The total area covered is estimated to be 107-km long in Thane.
Last week, the team raided two such spots in Bhiwandi and Dombivli and seized the equipment. The revenue department has in the last one year conducted several raids and seized around 6,061 trucks used for plying the sand. A penalty of Rs 7.82 crore has been recovered till date, but that hasn't affected the business and it apparently continues uninterrupted, said the official.
The official said there are roughly around 5,000 trucks that operate illegally in the district plying sand from these spots at night when the revenue officials don't usually conduct raids. The district has around 160 plots demarcated for sand dredging activity. Considering that each of these lorries carry around two brass or approximately nine tonne sand, the amount of natural resources picked up by the sand mafia runs into crores, said the official estimating the loss of revenue to the state at around Rs 400 crore annually.
An official from the revenue department in Thane said despite being short-staffed they hold regular raids at these spots but to no effect. Sumaira Abdulali of the Awaaz foundation who had raised the issue in 2009 with the Bombay High Court has expressed surprise and said she will pursue the matter.
