Every day, close to 3,000 trucks enter Bengaluru carrying sand extracted from the Cauvery and its tributaries flowing through Mysuru, Chamarajanagar and Mandya districts.
Despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that banned riverbed mining, the riverbed continues to be plundered to feed the insatiable demand of the construction industry, primarily in Bengaluru and Mysuru.
Excavating riverbeds not just impacts aquatic life, it hugely reduces groundwater recharge in the vicinity, affecting livelihoods, says T.V. Ramachandra of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science. Deep trenches in the middle of a riverbed could ultimately change a river’s course.
This illegal — and a lucrative — trade continues in a highly organised manner, say officials. For instance, along the Kapila, a Cauvery’s tributary flowing through Suttur town in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s Varuna Assembly constituency, the police recently seized as many as 40 iron boats used for extracting sand.
Here, a group of men belonging to Maralu Cooli Karmika Sangha engaged themselves in extracting sand from the riverbed, pooling funds to build boats to carry the material. The sand was sold to middlemen, who transported it to urban centres such as Mysuru and Bengaluru, where the scarcity of sand has sent its price skyrocketing. A truckload of sand, which was available for Rs. 10,000 a few months ago, has now turned into a precious commodity, costing as much Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 40,000.
Riverbed to river bankOfficials from the departments of Mines and Geology, and Revenue have now begun scouting for sand extraction sites on the banks of the Cauvery and its tributaries, as river bank sand is the only available legal alternative.
“Four or five sand deposits have been identified on river banks in Mysuru district. We will have to evaluate the total area and quantum of sand available for extraction,” says Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru district C. Shikha.
Desperate for a solution, the construction industry has made a case to popularise manufactured sand, or crushed aggregates produced from granite. Secretary of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India’s Bengaluru unit, has urged the government to come out with clear regulations on manufactured sand to meet the growing needs of the construction industry.
