SAND MAFIA

Nyayapati Gautam
UTTAR PRADESH SAND MAFIA
The sand mafia has been responsible for the
Yamuna shifting course about 500 metres east in
Noida.
FIRs lodged. No action taken.
Reminders sent to the DM and SDM of Sadar.
Drawing attention to the possibility of vast and rapid
flooding.
Deep mining which wasdrawing river water towards it.
Uttarakhand type tragedy.
In GB Nagar, the sand mining mafia controls nearly
60 sq km of the floodplains along the Yamuna river,
from Okhla Barrage up to Greater Noida.

SDM SADAR
In the summer of 2013 Durga Shakti Nagpal
came down hard on illegal sand miners.
Arresting them,
Imposing hefty fines and
Confiscating their machinery.
In a month, she was suspended.
The Chief Minister had said she was
suspended for arbitrarily ordering the demolition
of a wall of an under-construction mosque in
Kadalpur village.
"Her action threatened to destroy communal
peace," Akhilesh had said.
FORCES AT PLAY
Politics?
Sand Mafia Links?
Patriarchy?
COUNTER
Sand is essential for construction.
Construction has created 20 million new jobs in
the last seven years.
Jobs in all other sectors agriculture, industry,
services are falling or growing slowly.
Our one massive job-creator , construction, is
now threatened by a growing shortage of sand
and gravel.
Are the Courts and the Environmental NGOs
right?