In India, mining for sand is as valuable as mining for gold. This is due to large-scale urbanization and rapid construction which is the primary industry that this sand is used in. Sanctions allow sand mining up to a depth where water is not extracted but in areas where sand is illegally mined, trucks heavily loaded with sand and tripping water are a common sight.
It is difficult to tackle the issue of sand mining in India due to unavailability of data. Out of the 19,000 cases of illegal mining of minerals reported in 2015-16 how many were related to sand mining is not recorded, but sand is the fourth most mined minor mineral according to the Indian Bureau of Mines.
On further exploration of information on Sand mining, a need for a list of sand mining sites was felt. The following map shows the of locations throughout India where illegal sand mining occurs. This is the first step for further sociological research. The list has been prepared using newspaper articles and youtube reports from these locations.
State: City/Town
Andhra Pradesh:
- Kadavakuduru
- Kakinada
- Korlam
- Telangana
- Vijayawada
Himachal Pradesh:
- Wangtu
Rajasthan:
- Dholpur
Karnataka:
- Kolar
- Kolavooru
- Mangaluru
Kerala:
- Kannur
Madhya Pradesh:
- Bhind
Maharashtra:
- Ahmednagar
- Mahad
- Mumbai
- Pune
- Solapur
- Thane
Tamil Nadu:
- Melmangalam
- Nambiyar
- Tirunelveli
Uttarakhand:
- Haridwar
- Nainital
- Udham Singh Nagar
Uttar Pradesh:
- Banda
- Gautam Buddh Nagar
- Noida
References:
IndiaTV Exclusive: Illegal sand mining in Pune, Solapur and Ahmednagar
CNBC – TV18 Sand Mining: An Illegal Industry
The Hindu: The dark depths of sand mining
The Struggle Over River Bed Mining in India
Drawing the line in India’s sand mining industry
Sand Mafia: A Network of Politicians, Construction Companies and Criminals
By: Shradha Bhatia
