Sand mining, a profitable business value crores of rupees, has grow to be a big downside for residents of a minimum of 200 villages in Ropar and Garhshankar in Punjab. The Kalwa-Nangal bridge over the Swan river, positioned in Algran village and connecting Ropar to Garhshankar, has been broken since July 2023 because of the overexploitation of the river mattress for sand.
Regardless of the outcry over the bridge’s situation, sand mining continues unchecked whilst residents are compelled to take a 30-km detour as a result of the Punjab Mandi Board lacks the funds essential to hold out the repairs. The bridge has been closed to visitors since December 21, 2023.
As residents have reported, the bridge was opened for visitors in 2002 and has witnessed unlawful sand mining actions since 2006. Crushers working within the space ran all evening and this overexploitation of the riverbed for sand mining broken the bridge’s pillars which had been additional compromised by the floods in 2023.
“The mining operation not solely disrupted our peace—requiring police intervention every time unlawful actions had been reported—but it surely additionally precipitated important injury to our bridge. One of many bridge’s piers has grow to be tilted, resulting in its closure for all visitors besides two-wheelers. This injury occurred as a consequence of extreme digging close to the bridge. We have now raised crimson flags a number of instances about this challenge, however sadly, nothing has been performed to deal with it,” mentioned Surinder Kumar Saini, a shopkeeper in Bhallan village close to the bridge.
A go to to the realm close to the broken bridge revealed trails left by heavy autos, potential quarrying sand, on the mattress of the river, “We hear noises of heavy equipment each evening. If mining shouldn’t be going down then how come these machines are working. We have now complained many instances. I’ve retired from the police. I understand how the complete system works,” mentioned Bachhittar Singh, a resident of Tarakh Majari village.
The Public Works Division (PWD) flagged issues about mining actions close to the bridge and supplied an estimate of Rs 17 crore for its restore to the Punjab Mandi Board, which is answerable for the development and restore of rural roads and bridges. Nonetheless, the Mandi Board is at the moment dealing with a money crunch. “We have now submitted the estimate to the Mandi Board. As quickly because the funds are launched, we’ll proceed with the repairs,” mentioned a PWD official.
The realm is a part of the Anandpur Sahib constituency, represented by AAP MP and spokesperson Malvinder Kang. He mentioned, “The bridge is important and its restore a serious demand from native residents. We’re working to get it repaired. This falls throughout the Meeting phase of Schooling Minister Harjot Singh Bains (Anandpur Sahib), who can be advocating for its restore. We have now raised this challenge with the federal government. There’s at the moment a funding scarcity with the Mandi Board, because the Centre has not launched the state’s Rural Improvement Fund, amounting to Rs 6,767 crore.”
He said that the bridge was broken in final yr’s floods as a consequence of sand mining throughout the earlier Congress authorities’s regime. Harjot Bains was unavailable for feedback.
From Ropar to Hoshiarpur by way of HP: 30-km detour as unlawful mining damages bridge
CBCP research and proposals
In April this yr, The Indian Categorical reported the plight of villages. The Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal (NGT) took suo motu discover of the report and directed the district administration of Ropar and the Central Air pollution Management Board (CPCB) to conduct a research and submit a report. A CPCB group that visited the broken bridge has not dominated out the injury precipitated to the bridge as a consequence of unlawful mining.
The report submitted to the NGT in August said that though no mining exercise was noticed inside 1,000 metres of the bridge, and no deep craters had been discovered on the riverbed or its banks throughout the web site go to, a report from the Division of Drainage, Mining, and Geology in Anandpur Sahib revealed that eight FIRs had been filed for unlawful mining between 2015 and 2020. It mentioned these incidents occurred inside 1,000 metres upstream and downstream of the bridge.
“Moreover, 11 tippers and 6 excavators had been confiscated in reference to these FIRs. No knowledge was supplied to the CPCB group almost about unlawful mining for the interval of 2021-2024. Due to this fact, the opportunity of unlawful mining actions previously occurring close to the bridge might not be dominated out,” the report said.
Through the web site inspection, the joint group famous that important erosion had occurred round 4 of the 14 pillars supporting the bridge. Additionally they noticed that water flows by solely 4 of the pillars, whereas the others stay intact. This example will increase the danger of harm to the bridge, based on the report.
Through the go to, the group noticed that the joints on the highway slabs above pillars P7, P6, and P8 had widened, and cracks had been current on the highest slabs of the bridge. The group prompt that the Geology and Mining Division could rigorously implement the Enforcement and Monitoring Pointers for Sand Mining (EMGSM), 2020. This consists of guaranteeing that sand and gravel extraction is prohibited inside 1000 metres of main bridges and highways on either side. All mining websites past 1,000 metres of the bridge below reference, if any, may additionally be inspected to confirm compliance with these tips.
Moreover, the report mentioned that strict monitoring could also be carried out by the police, forest, and transportation departments. Enough examine posts ought to be established throughout the district, the operation hours of quarries and depots ought to be restricted to 7 am to six pm, and the parking of sand-transporting autos inside quarry or depot websites throughout evening or odd hours could also be restricted, it mentioned.
The report beneficial that the native administration conduct a research on the affect of mining actions on the encompassing space’s hydro-geological situations. The information collected from this research may be in contrast with baseline knowledge to judge the results on groundwater ranges.
Water desk taking place, say residents
Residents of close by villages reported that the underground water ranges of their space have considerably decreased. “Our space used to have the most effective water provide; we may entry it at 20 toes. Now, it has dropped to 120 toes. All our pump units have failed, and we’ve got needed to deepen them,” mentioned Saini.
He recalled how the primary crusher was arrange on the Swan river within the Algran village in 2008. “Ever since, these 16 years have been a nightmare. Our daughters don’t really feel protected. Each evening, we see autos of informants parked on our roadsides to tip off the employees on the mining websites if any police celebration involves raid the spot. We have now been seeing that these crushers hold altering palms. The operations get patronage from the politicians in energy.”
Mining contractors rule lack of correct coverage.
A mining contractor, talking anonymously, said {that a} crusher was arrange for Rs 20 crore however the enterprise is now not worthwhile. “Solely 5 to 7 per cent of crushers are operational. The area now solely has fantastic sand accessible in Punjab, whereas coarse sand is being sourced from neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh. These nonetheless working are doing so with the assist of native leaders. There are additionally points concerning environmental clearance. Up to now, the federal government has solely auctioned 40 quarries.”
He said that coarse sand, obtained from crushed stones, is at the moment accessible to finish customers at a worth starting from Rs 32 to Rs 40 per cubic foot. This starkly contrasts the promise made by the AAP authorities, which pledged to offer sand at a price of Rs 5.50 per cubic foot. Nonetheless, native residents expressed their frustration, noting that the sand is definitely being offered at Rs 32 to Rs 40 per cubic foot.
Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Kasumbri village in Fatehgarh Sahib, mentioned, “I’ve by no means bought sand for lower than Rs 32 per cubic foot. It has by no means touched Rs 30 even,” he mentioned.
A authorities official, talking on the situation of anonymity, said that there isn’t any challenge with sand provide within the state. “There isn’t a scarcity; it’s available. The value of Rs 5.50 refers back to the materials itself and doesn’t embody transportation or labour prices. Individuals can purchase it for Rs 5.50 per cubic foot on the pit head.”
Sand mining, a political sizzling potato in Punjab
The sand mining enterprise, estimated to be value Rs 5,000 crore, gained momentum in Punjab round 2005-06. Nonetheless, it has not considerably contributed to the financially strained state, as no authorities has been in a position to generate greater than Rs 400 crore yearly from it. This challenge has grow to be a political concern for each administration, as sand is obtainable to finish customers at excessive costs, but the federal government struggles to capitalise on it. The mining actions have reworked the lives of individuals residing close to the rivers.
Punjab has an estimated demand of two crore tonnes of sand and mining has been a big political challenge within the state, influencing the narrative throughout the SAD-BJP coalition authorities from 2007 to 2017, in addition to below Congress CM Amarinder Singh’s authorities from 2017 to 2021, and subsequently throughout Charanjit Singh Channi’s tenure from September 2021 to March 2022. The SAD-BJP authorities earned lower than Rs 50 crore yearly by implementing a reverse bidding system for mining operations.
The Congress authorities later modified the mining system, but it surely was unable to generate greater than Rs 350 crore yearly from this sector. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal promised earlier than the final Meeting elections that the federal government would earn Rs 20,000 crore a yr from sand mining. Nonetheless, thus far, the federal government has solely managed to earn round Rs 300 crore.
Within the post-terrorism period, Punjab skilled fast improvement, elevated money circulation, and a surge in development actions over the past 20 years. Nonetheless, a “politician-sand miners nexus” emerged throughout this era. Successive governments made pre-poll guarantees to dismantle this nexus and liberate the sand enterprise from its grip. The sand enterprise is now intently linked to a number of politicians, because the sand mafia reportedly operates with political assist.
An official from the mining division said that unlawful mining is happening within the state, and whereas circumstances have been registered, the extent of the difficulty is much less important than it was previously. “That’s why the Opposition shouldn’t be elevating issues. In any other case, would they continue to be silent?”
