The Sand Mafia, in connivance with the Government officials from Nagpur and Bhandara Districts, were thriving and prospering without any hitch till today. However, the National Green Tribunal order has rattled them to the core. The NGT Bench, headed by Justice Swatantra Kumar, asserted that the ban will cover the entire country as the petition relates to the serious issue of the environment.
Nagpur News: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has banned the sand excavation without the instant permission of the Central Environment and Forests Ministry or Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. The NGT ban has sent shivers down the spines of Sand Mafia of Nagpur and Bhandara Districts. However, the group of sand stealers and sellers celebrated the ban the overnight.
The Sand Mafia, in connivance with the Government officials from Nagpur and Bhandara Districts, were thriving and prospering without any hitch till today. However, the NGT order has rattled them to the core. The NGT Bench, headed by Justice Swatantra Kumar, asserted that the ban will cover the entire country as the petition relates to serious issue of the environment. The NGT Bench, initially banned the sand mining at Rivers Yomuna, Ganga, Hindon, Chambal, Gomti and other rivers. However, the NGT Bench, immediately changed its own order and banned the sand mining in the entire country. “The illegal issue of sand mining is a national problem,” the Bench said while banning the sand mining without the permission of Central Environment and Forests Ministry or Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. All the parties have been issued notices to file their replies on August 24.
The Bhanadar District provides the sand in gigantic magnitude and the sand is also better quality. And the price is also costly. Similarly, the sand of Kanhan river in Nagpur District is supposed to be of best quality. The auction of sands at these two places fetch crores and crores. The costs of Bhandara sand are increasing day by day. And the lucrative business and the contracts have been run by from political workers to ministers directly or indirectly. The top Government bosses, too, pour in their black money into sandy and profiting business.
The Sand Mafia officially bag contracts of sand mining by creating a “Ring” and then indulge in illegal mining and supplying for 24 hours by dumping the rules and regulations deep into the sands. The rules say the sand mining could only be done after sunrise and before sunset. But the mining goes on and on for 24 hours with the connivance of of the district officials. The district officials, too, “mined with bounties” that forced them to stay away from the sandy rivers. However, the ban, will put a full stop to their shady deals and a shadow of fear has spread to their “Ring”.
However, the small fishes in the “rivers of sandy affairs” have been celebrating the ban without any fear. “The ban is for big fishes or sharks. It is not for small fishes,” said a small fish with broad smile.
The Sand Mafia, which had terrorized the honest and determined Government officials, and even harmed them, have now themselves are in troubled waters. The troubled waters of rivers from where they carried out their blackish sand business.
