Srinagar : Unabated sand mining along the Jhelum river banks in Patel Bagh area of the Pampore with the commissioning of heavy machines has damaged the embankments of the river body and threatens to flood the adjacent areas, said locals.
They told the news agency CNS that the concerned authorities have ignored their complaints despite the fact that ongoing sand extraction has put embankments under tremendous pressure and caused a huge damage to its base.
“We are concerned about the continuous sand mining activities in the area because they are related to a number of social and environmental problems. Our area has been most severely impacted due to the ongoing sand excavation, which is not being stopped by anyone,” Ghulam Mohammad, a local from Patel Bagh, said.
Locals alleged that sand miners have been collaborating with the Irrigation and Flood Control (I & FC) Department’s employees as it is impossible to carry out mining and shifting of the excavated sand without the impunity from the concerned department.
“Officials are ignoring the problem, and it appears that their priorities lie with making money rather than safeguarding the public and the environment. The ecosystem of the region is being irreparably harmed by the sand mafia’s unchecked exploitation of the natural resources,” said Mohammad.
The locals further said the embankments are now susceptible to collapsing because the government’s protective walls, built in the wake of the 2014 floods, have been destroyed. They said that the indiscriminate sand extraction also harms the local ecology by destroying plant and animal life and polluting water sources.
An official at the Irrigation Department said that excessive sand mining has mostly hurt lift irrigation projects since rising riverbed erosion has rendered them ineffective. In most cases, he said, the water has dropped below the water pumps’ level that supply water to the field.
“It is the worst challenge, and if it is not resolved right away, the impact on agriculture will be catastrophic,” he said.
