Manoj Upadhyay, Morena: The sand mafia is not being curbed in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. The mafia, who is doing illegal mining indiscriminately, has sieved the banks of the Chambal river. Illegal excavation is being done in broad daylight with machines like JCB and Hydra. Its worst effect is being on the homes of aquatic organisms. Wherever illegal mining is taking place in Chambal river, aquatic creatures have migrated from there. The mafia has dug and sieved the banks of the river, due to which the entire look of Chambal has deteriorated.
Please tell that fish like crocodile, crocodile, tortoise and dolphin are found in Chambal river. Aquatic creatures like alligators, crocodiles and tortoises lay their eggs in the sand dunes along the river banks to raise their offspring. These sand dunes are said to be the abode of aquatic creatures. If you want to see and understand how the habitats of aquatic creatures are being destroyed due to sand mafia, then look at the condition of Raj Ghat on the Morena-Dholpur border.
It is worth mentioning that till a few years ago, eggs of turtles, crocodiles and alligators used to come out from the sand, these aquatic creatures were seen everywhere in the river. But at Rajghat, about one and a half thousand trolley sand is being extracted every day by machines like JCB and Hydra. The sand mafia has made the sand dunes disappear, digging the banks from place to place to get the sand out of the pond. Dolphins have disappeared from Rajghat area years ago, now even alligators and crocodiles are not visible. This condition is not only of Rajghat, but there are more than 25 ghats like Barwasin, Bhanpur, Atarghat, Raughat, Nagra, Usaid, where illegal mining of sand is taking place. Aquatic animals have migrated from all these places. The sand mafia has made separate roads to extract sand from these ghats, on which the life of a common man is not free from danger.
Illegal excavation of sand is being done in such quantity from Chambal river that it is not able to be consumed even in Morena, Gwalior and Dholpur of Rajasthan. In such a situation, the sand mafia has kept illegal sand stocks from the banks of the Chambal river to the ravines. On the banks of Chambal river at Rajghat, more than 700 small mounds have been made and stocked with sand. Thousands of dumper sand stocks are kept in the ravines around Jaitpur, Bhanpur, Piprai, Masoodpur, Gospur, Janakpur, Kenthari, Torkhera villages around the ghat. During the rainy season, when the Chambal river is in spate, the sand mafia consumes the stocked sand at exorbitant rates.
first published:April 28, 2022, 4:53 p.m.
