Sand miners, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
“Sand is the second most consumed natural resource, after water. The construction-building industry is by far the largest consumer of this finite resource. The traditional building of one average-sized house requires 200 tons of sand; a hospital requires 3,000 tons of sand; each kilometer of highway built requires 30,000 tons of sand… A nuclear plant, a staggering 12 million tons of sand…” Captions and Photograph by © Denis Delestrac
Excerpts;
The Madras High Court has directed the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to respond to a public interest litigation petition seeking a SIT probe into illegal beach sand mining in the State.
The petitioner, a geologist, alleged massive corruption and illegalities in the mining of beach sand minerals such as Thorium-rich Monazite and other associate minerals in the State. Sand dunes were destroyed…
People on Coastline Suffering Due to Sand Mining, India; a NEWS X LIVE Video (08-19-2013)
Down south the Beach Sand Mining activities in Tamil Nadu, are not only destroying the environment but also creating health issues for the people living on the coast line. Newsx correspondent Srikumar uncovers the health hazards people are subjected to…
40% Of The Indian Coast Is Subjected To Coastal Erosion, The Times Of India (08-17-2014)
India’s Central Government To Take Up Illegal Sand Mining With States, India Express (10-30-2014)
Concerned over large scale illegal sand mining across states, the Union mines ministry has convened meeting of all States and Union Territories next week to discuss the legal and administrative frameworks in place in each state to govern sand mining and the actual experience of states in handling such cases…
Sand, Rarer Than One Thinks: A UNEP report (March 2014)
Despite the colossal quantities of sand and gravel being used, our increasing dependence on them and the significant impact that their extraction has on the environment, this issue has been mostly ignored by policy makers and remains largely unknown by the general public…
