Saturday 11 July 2015

Critically examine how illegal mining of river sand in various parts of India is affecting the ecology of rivers and lives of people in the vicinity of these rivers. (200 Words)

With boom in real estate and construction sector demand for its basic raw material sand has also increased tremendously. That’s why sand mining has become a highly profitable business.

According to geologists sand accumulation in riverbeds reduce their depth and cause frequent floods so it is necessary to remove sand regularly but unscientific, indiscriminate ,illegal and excessive mining has become a bane for ecology as well as people around them.

Adverse effects of Over exploitation of sand resources:

· Distortion of forests , hills and ecological biodiversity in and around the river which ultimately disturb the ecological balance of the river system.

· Due to mining color of water get changed . low ph level, high electrical conductivity, high concentration of ions of sulphate and presence of toxic metals, low dissolved oxygen are other effects which leads to water depletion.

· It cause fall in ground water level because of that the area once having plenty of
water have to struggle for that .people do not get sufficient water even to drink
· Mining left riverbeds full of trenches and pits leaving it unuseful for agricultural activities which leads to loss of employment for farm workers and ultimately disturbing the socio-economic condition of local people.

For tackling illegal mining not only strict laws but also their effective implementation is required. There is a need to break sand mafia ,political and executive nexus. Researches on alternate building material and their recycling and reuse should be conducted.

Although development is necessary for every country and its people and it highly rely on natural resources available locally but their utilization should be in restrictive manner and based on scientific lines . Development should not be on the cost of environment and people living their. Its the time to think about sustainable development.

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