Guwahati: Illegal Sand Mining Continues Unchecked in Guwahati Despite Official Oversight

GUWAHATI: All is not well with the traffic management in Guwahati. The reckless driving by a section of dumpers reeks of shoddy traffic management in Guwahati. 

Let’s take the recklessness of a section of dumpers that ply in the city to carry sand, river silt, ordinary clay, etc., from the Brahamputra to different locations in Guwahati as a case study.

It is the Assam Mineral Development Corporation (AMDC) that issues permission for collecting and carrying such materials as sand, river silt, ordinary clay, etc., from the Brahamputra river bed to different locations in the Kamrup (M) district. Allegations are that most of the people engaged in this business collect all these materials illegally from the Brahmaputra. After 11 p.m., a large number of such dumpers ply to and from the Brahmaputra riverside in the Kharguli area of the city. Do the police personnel on duty check the permissions obtained by each and every dumper? 

When asked, a senior official of the AMDC said, “In the case of linear projects of the government, we give permissions to parties that possess work orders from the government, besides no-objection certificates from the Department of Water Resources, for the collection of sand, river silt, ordinary clay, etc. We give permissions with the condition that they should collect such materials 100 metres away from the country side of the river by strictly adhering to the norms of the Department of Water Resources. However, some of the parties illegally collect such materials within 100 metres of the country side of the river. In the Kamrup (M) district, we give permission to collect such materials from the Brahmaputra only from two sites: Panikhaiti and Palasbari.”

The senior official further said, “There are many who collect such materials for linear projects and sell a portion of them in the black market at higher costs illegally. There are also parties that collect materials from river sites that are not meant for such purposes. We have teams that go to the spots at night to check for such activities. They charge fines starting at Rs 10,000, depending on the nature of the crime. However, due to the shortage of manpower, our people cannot keep a round-the-clock vigil. In the last part of April or early May, we stop issuing permissions for the collection of such materials from the river bed in the Kamrup (M) district. We sent letters to all stakeholders, including the police, about stopping the issuance of permissions for the collection of sand, clay, etc. from the river bed. If any party collects such materials after April end or early May, it is the responsibility of the police to check the illegalities.”

However, even now, dumpers carry sand, ordinary clay, river silt, etc., from the beds of the Brahmaputra and carry them to different locations in Guwahati. The question that arises now is: are the police in the Kamrup (M) district vigilant enough to check the menace?  Will the authorities concerned rise to the occasion and solve the problem? 

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