TNN

Bangalore, Apr 28: The Lokayukta has been hailed for his crusade against corruption. Now, he’s taking on rampant illegal sand mining in the Cauvery tributaries. He found that it's also happening on revenue land given to farmers for agricultural purposes.

Sand filtering is quite unsustainable as it involves digging up earth and filtering it with high pressure to remove silica. This is rampant in many agricultural areas and farmers are gradually moving towards this high-income activity.

“This can lead to absolute barrenness of the land. It’s unfortunate that this is happening on revenue land given to farmers for agriculture. The land becomes unsuitable for agriculture. The sand gathered like this is of very low quality and not safe for buildings,” Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde said.

Even in prohibited zones like archaeologically significant Talakad, sand mining is rampant and unsustainable high-pressure pumps are used to suck up water and sand.

He points out that illegal sand mining is big business. Over 1,000 lorries come to Bangalore every day of which a mere 15% are legitimately mined.

In many spots, ponds are being created as miners are not filling up these illegal pits. “Chances of people being sucked down in these pits are high as the mud inside is devoid of sand. I wrote to the government in December 2007 on this issue, but nothing has happened,” Justice Hegde said.

“Sand mining, particularly in riverbeds, impacts groundwater recharge severely. Surface rain-off is high and groundwater is depleted. Vegetation around the water body also changes or sometimes dies completely. Currently, some illegal mining projects are near bridges that could shake their foundation. And most such agricultural land is not appropriate for agriculture. It’s very unfortunate and needs to be tackled immediately,” said geologist K C Shubhashchandra.

Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association, secretary, B V Narayanappa, who has been transporting sand for 35 years, said illegal filter sand mining is rampant in the state and low quality sand has impacted quality of buildings. “Government permits on sand mining ended on February 28, 2009. Naturally, all sand transportation after that date is illegal,” he said.