Hundreds of sand-laden trucks crisscross the National Capital to reach Gurgaon and Outer Delhi areas in the dark of the midnight. A local in Noida says there are at least 100 such illegal sand mining points between Noida and Jewar along the Yamuna and roughly about 1,000 trucks are in service to make a fast buck.

"On an average, each truck is worth Rs.6,000 at the mining site at the Yamuna bed. It rises to about Rs.10,000 when middlemen are involved. The sand is sold finally in retail market for Rs.20,000-Rs.22,000... The trucks go to all directions - Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida, Noida Extension and Yamuna Expressway," the local says.

An investigation by Mail Today on Thursday night revealed that the sand from Greater Noida is not only transported directly to construction sites but also a huge quantity of it is supplied to dealers of construction material.

Dozens of such dealers are found operating in Vikas Nagar area along the Najafgarh drain in South West Delhi. The illegally mined sand is dumped in adjacent areas like Ranhola, Palam Village and Shiv Vihar. A Mail Today team trailed the trucks right from the Mahamaya Flyover in Noida to Najafgarh, Matiala, Shiv Vihar and Palam Village.

On the trail

It is interesting to note here that though the truck drivers choose the DND Flyway for their onward movement after paying the toll tax, the local administration is yet to take strong action against the sand mafia. Locals allege that the operation is run at night with the active connivance of local authorities.

"More than 200 truckloads of sand are transported via the DND Flyway every night with active involvement of local administration," an attendant at the DND toll plaza claims.

To avoid long queues at the toll plaza from Noida, a large number of trucks enter the DND Flyway via Mayur Vihar Extension and exit from Ashram Chowk. The intersection on southeastern corner of the Ring Road is the point from where the sand-laden trucks fan out on different routes towards their destinations.

In some cases, the heavy vehicles enter East Delhi colonies to supply sand to local construction material dealers. Many of these dealers operate in New Ashok Nagar, Dallupura and Kondli area on Delhi-Noida border and most of the sand is used in renovation of the existing society and DDA flats.

The trucks to Gurgaon and South West Delhi take the BRT corridor and the Outer Ring Road to evade policemen on the Ring Road. Two cops present at the Chirag Dilli intersection around 11 pm simply allowed the two trucks to pass through the barricades.

After crawling on the congested Outer Ring Road for nearly 40 minutes, the trucks had a free run on National Highway 8 and later through various sectors of the Dwarka sub-city. From there, the heavy vehicles took a circuitous route via Palam Village, Surajpur, Shiv Vihar, Najafgarh drain to reach Vikas Nagar in Najafgarh where the sand was finally dumped.

Police leeway

On their way to final destination, the trucks passed a police barricade on Phoota Road along the Najafgarh drain. The trucks then entered a deserted road near the Najafgarh drain where local people escorted them to their destination.

Nearly 500 tonnes of fine sand is legally mined in Haryana, while 153 acres of land is excavated daily in Gautam Budh Nagar, official sources said. Delhi does not permit sand mining on the Yamuna bed. But activists allege illegal mining takes place at Okhla barrage, upstream Wazirabad and villages across Gautam Budh Nagar and in a few pockets in Haryana.

Few months ago, the National Green Tribunal had directed the Delhi government to put a stop to illegal mining carried out on the Yamuna riverbed at Wazirabad and Jagatpur bund area.

Modus operandi

The sand mining mafia has different level of operatives. The big and organised ones control scores of tractors, trucks and earth-moving equipment.

Smaller operatives are bigger than the individual operators, and are mostly farmers who own tractors.

Sand mafia vehicles get FIR jolt from UP officials

The district administration of Gautam Budh Nagar has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against 86 vehicles involved in illegal sand mining from January this year till now. As many as 94 vehicles were taken into custody so far by the administration for carrying the sand.

"We conduct continuous drive against the trucks carrying sand from various parts of Noida and Greater Noida. The department then registers a complaint against the truck drivers to the police and the FIR is filed," said Gautam Budh Nagar additional district magistrate Chandrashekhar.

The most number of vehicles were seized in the month of May, with 21 FIRs registered by the police. In November, so far, three FIRs have been registered against the trucks.

"These trucks carry sand from Yamuna riverbeds to various parts of Delhi and Gurgaon. We keep a close watch on their movements and track them every day. The drive is a regular affair," Chandrashekhar added.

The Union environment ministry had formed a three-member committee to track the illegal sand mining. The committee had visited seven locations - Hindon Bridge, Yamuna Bridge, Mamnathal village, Gaddi village, Kundli village, Raipur Khadar and Yakutpur, and found sand mining rampant at all the locations, except Hindon Bridge and Raipur Khadar.

"It is evident that rampant, unscientific and illegal mining has been going on at various locations in the Gautam Budh Nagar district along the Yamuna river," the committee said in its report on Saturday.

At Yamuna Bridge on Hamidpur-Palval Road, the committee found heaps of sand lying on both sides of the road. In Mamnathal village, deep excavated areas were noticed; in Gaddi village the committee found the excavated area was filled up with water before their visit.

The committee found that the mining had been going on in the area without mandatory approval of State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and State Pollution Control Board.

- Mail Today Bureau in Noida/Greater Noida