Bihar: The new haven for illegal sand mining

Posted by shivarajan80 on November 8th, 2016

Illegal sand mining has been an issue in India for more than 3 years now. New reports suggest that Bihar is the newly hit state by illegal sand mining.

It was confirmed by Sushil Kumar Modi, the former Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister of the Bihar state that unlawful sand mining was prevalent in the region and all of it accounted to millions from the public money.

Sushil Kumar Modi also claimed that the respective police and, mining and transport departments were helping such activities to protect “vested interests.”

In a press release, Sushil Kumar Modi stated that “There is illicit sand mining taking place from Sone river across a dozen districts in breach of the NGT (National Green Tribunal) ban on it … Hundreds of trucks carrying sand make underhand payment of Rs 6000 [+/- US] on each vehicle to the local police to carry sand for illicit trade,”.

The sanding and mining companies will be the most hit as they will be losing on both, the business and resources.  “It is well established that illegal mining has been happening since quite some time across various beaches of India. But till now, the parties responsible have not been traced down. In fact, businessmen like us come under scrutiny during each probe.” said Vaikundarajan, the MD of V. V. Minerals. VVM is the largest sand mining company and the only one to manufacture garnet in India.