GUWAHATI, DEC 9: Illegal mining of silt and sand from Brahmaputra river bed has been posing a threat to Auckland and its nearby area. Auckland is situated at Lahowal Legislative Assembly in Assam’s Dibrugarh district.
Excessive silt and sand mining can alter the river bed, change the course of the river, erode river banks, and lead to soil erosion. Most importantly, it affects the living organisms in the rivers like fish.
Sources said the sand mafias are illegally extracting silt from Brahmaputra river bed near Auckland area for last one month.
The illegal mining of silt has posing a serious threat to the entire area. Everyday 50 dumpers extract silt from Brahmaputra river bed.
Meanwhile, Assam Cha Jonogusthee Jatiya Mahasabha, Rohmoria Anchalik on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu regarding the issue.
“For last one month, illegal silt mining has been going on in the Auckland area. Every day over 50 dumpers extract silt from Brahmaputra river bed. Due to the constant plying of dumpers the PWD road was damaged. We have submitted a memorandum to Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner requesting him to intervent into the matter,” said Mantosh Kurmi, district president, Assam Cha Jonogusthee Jatiya Mahasabha.
It has been alleged that some unscrupulous sand mafias of Dibrugarh and other parts of the district have been running illegal business of sand having nexus with some forest officials.
However, following a series of orders by the National Green Tribunal in 2018, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has for the first time released guidelines to monitor and check illegal sand mining in the country.
The Enforcement and Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining 2020 released by the Ministry include direction to states to carry our river audits, put detailed survey reports of all mini g areas online and in the public domain, conduct replenishment studies of river beds, constantly monitoring mining with drones, aerial surveys, ground surveys and set up dedicated task forces at district level.