Illegal sand quarrying in Tapi River posing serious threat to village near Surat

Surat, June 26(ANI): The illegal sand quarrying in and around the Tapi River in Surat, Gujarat, is continuously posing a threat to a village situated on the bank of the river and hampering the crop production as well.

As per the law, the government permits mining of sand till five feet deep. On the contrary, the construction company is extracting sand from more than 100 feet deep.

Champak Bhai Patel, a farmer, said that quarrying of sand from 100 feet deep affects the extraction of water by tube well for irrigation purposes.

Since the project works round the clock, around 1200 to 1500 trucks ply on this route, thus causing pollution, which has an adverse impact on crop production.

"We are facing lot of problems because of quarrying of the sand. Firstly, it is that they are mining the sand from 100 feet deep. It is at this depth we need water for our tube wells. Now they are digging beyond 100 feet. We used to take water from 7.5 HP (House Power), but we need from 10 HP (Horse Power) now," Patel said.

"Government always says that power consumption should be controlled but in this manner, there will be surge in power consumption. Secondly, everyday around 1200-1500 trucks ply on this route, causing pollution, which has an adverse impact on agricultural production. As compared to the production in the past, this year the production is likely to go down," he added.

The excessive extraction of sand posses a serious threat to the village since it is evacuating the riverbed, which can lead to complete destruction of the village in the near future.

Mitesh Patel, a local, criticised local authorities for not taking any concrete step, even after visiting the site.

"Since the village is situated on the bank of the river, a pit has been formed under the ground and houses in the village have almost come on the edge of the river. It is likely that oneday village will be completely destroyed. In coming days we also want our children to know that there used be a village 'Kholeshwar'. If the government and the authorities will not take any action, then in the coming days the village will be destroyed," Mitesh said.

"The most problematic thing is that due to the commutation of trucks loaded with sands, villagers are confronted with traffic woes. It takes approximately half an hour to quarter in order to get out of the village. Sometimes, in emergency situation, the villagers are stuck in the village," he added. (ANI)