Home / Environment / NGT Task Force Busts Major Illegal Sand Mining Ring on Yamuna
NGT Task Force Busts Major Illegal Sand Mining Ring on Yamuna
13 Jan
Summary
- Illegal sand mining operations were discovered approximately 7km inside Delhi's border.
- A fake permit was presented by miners operating far from their authorized location.
- A 2km road was constructed by miners to facilitate truck access to the riverbed.
An inter-state task force, established under the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) directives, recently uncovered extensive illegal sand mining activities along the Yamuna River. A late-night raid revealed excavators digging the riverbed approximately 7km within the Delhi border, near Harampur and Jagatpur villages. This operation was prompted by persistent complaints about rampant sand mining reaching the Ghaziabad district magistrate's office.
The joint task force, comprising officials from Ghaziabad's mining department and police, discovered that the miners claimed to possess permits for a different location in Pachera village. However, further investigation revealed these permits to be fake. The miners had also constructed a 2km road from Harampur village directly to the riverbed, facilitating the loading of sand onto trucks. Authorities immediately alerted their Delhi counterparts, leading to the seizure of three excavators and the halting of operations.
This action follows previous concerns raised by an NGT-ordered committee regarding environmental violations, particularly in Ghaziabad's Navraspur area. The committee had previously noted that mining continued even when banned and highlighted issues such as a lack of afforestation, inadequate environmental audits, and improper sewage management. The Ghaziabad administration has conducted several enforcement drives and registered FIRs in connection with illegal sand mining since October last year.
