Anantnag, Oct 10, KDC: Mining Mafia in Anantnag district is at peak as extraction of Sand, Bajiri, Boulders and other material from Nallah Lidder from Aakura Mattan to Ganeshpora Aishmuqam is taking place in broad day light in connivance with local officials.
Locals told news agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC) that the places included Aakura, Nambal, Sakdas, Kershangam and Ganeshpora areas where dozens of tractors and tippers are being loaded with bajri, boulders and sand illegally in broad day light in connivance with the officials of mining and fisheries department.
It is also worth to mention that J&K High-court has already passed an order and blanket ban not to extract any kind of mining material from Mattan to Pahalgam nor to plant any kind of machinery of mining related which includes stone crusher and directed fisheries department to keep 24 hour vigil on it. But keeping all the orders aside both the departments are in deep sleep and on hand in glove with mining mafia who put these areas on Sale with regard to mining Material.
It is also pertinent to mention that from Sakdas to Kershangam and Ganeshpora mining mafia is using JCB, tipper & Tractors for this loot without fear from district administration Anantnag.
Locals allege that unabated sand mining along the Lidder river banks in Sakdas , Kershangam & Ganeshpora area of Anantnag district has damaged the embankments of the river body and threatens to flood the adjacent areas.
They alleged 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, Bajri & Boulder 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 illegal mining excavation, which is not being stopped by anyone,” Ghulam Hassan Rather, a local from Sakdas, said.
Locals alleged that mining material 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,” they said.
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 Mining Material extraction also harms the local ecology and polluting water sources.
An expert of ecology said that 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. (KDC)
