Chief Minister Pramod Sawant last raised high hopes of sand mining resuming in the State by around a month but quickly changed it to March-end. The basis for the positivity probably emerges from the fact that Environmental Clearances applied for sand mining in three riverbeds of Mandovi, Zuari and Chapora are granted. The CM has said that once the EC is obtained then permissions will be granted to extract sand only through traditional methods.
The flip side of this story is that the issue of sand mining is with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which is scheduled to hold its final hearing on the matter on March 31. The green tribunal in its order of March 17, 2023, had held that permits cannot be issued by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority for sand mining in Goa till final hearings are held. The Directorate of Mines and Geology has not granted sand mining permits for the last six seasons from 2018 to 2023.
On the ground, however, sand continues to flow for a steep price and the ban has been conveniently bypassed, thanks to the authorities who are allowing sand an illegality. The impression that sand from Kudal is feeding the industry is too pale because trucks have been illegally transporting sand at exorbitant prices with tacit support from middlemen and commission agents, the repeated raps from the Bombay High Court not withstanding.
In early December last year, the court had pulled the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police stating that both were not “seriously interested” in preventing illegal sand mining in Goa. The court had held that the several assurances of taking strict action against illegal sand miners have remained on paper and that top officials lacked sensitivity on the issue of environmental protection. “What anguishes us is that the authorities who are duty-bound to stop the illegal activity pretend that they do not even see these activities,” the high court has observed.
In a knee-jerk reaction, the government transferred a few police officers posted in the jurisdiction of sand-mining areas, raising the question of whether this violation of law was managed by the police in uniform, and whether any action plan as directed by the court would help.
Goa’s economy is linked to construction and sand may be seen as a stumbling block, and on the other side there is a growing concern for the environment and the need to secure rivers from rampant exploitation. This becomes a very sensitive issue that needs to be dealt with appropriately.
While the intent is clearly lacking to crack down on the illegality, the State government has also not shown the will to pursue the matter aggressively. The central Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had in January 2020 asked States to adapt hi-tech gadgets, including CCTVs at sites, GPS-fitted vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles to track illegalities.
Seeking urgent redressal of the issue is important to the industry and the State as a whole because the economy is directly linked. However, setting unrealistic or speculative timelines will create unnecessary restlessness among stakeholders and citizens. All the State can do is explore options and put mechanisms and protocols in place so that illegalities are dealt with promptly and effectively.
