Jamshedpur, March 5: Sand mining continues unabated on the banks of Subernarekha river in Jamshedpur, barely a kilometre from the East Singhbhum district collectorate and SSP's office.

Around noon today, a truck was found lifting sand from a ghat near Sakchi without the slightest apprehension of administrative action. And, this despite the National Green Tribunal's ban on sand mining without environmental clearance and a Supreme Court order against pilfering of minerals.

"Golmuri mein kaam ho raha hai, wahan par balu supply karna hain. Hamare bade babu ne kaha hain balu lane. Isme naya kya hain? Hum yahan se roj balu lete hain. Har roj 15-20 trucks yahan se balu uthata hain. (We have to supply sand for construction work in Golmuri and our manager has asked us to supply the sand. We have been taking sand from the ghat for so many days. Everyday more than 15-20 trucks of sand are lifted. What is unusual about it?)," said Swapan Tandi, the truck driver engaged in the illegal activity.

Notably, there are 39 earmarked sand pits spread on the banks of Subernarekha and Kharkhai rivers in the East Singhbhum district and all of them had been auctioned by the district administration in 2014 and 2015.

Though several agencies willing to mine sand from the ghats had obtained the mandatory environment clearance (EC) from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), but some are yet to obtain the mandatory Consent To Operate (CTO) from the regional office of the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB).

JSPCB regional officer Suresh Paswan said, "CTO clearance for those who want to lift sand from ghats in Sakchi and Mango are under process. It is the duty of the mining department, which had granted mining lease, to stop their activities."

East Singhbhum mining officer Sanjiv Kumar Mandal promised swift action.

"It is illegal to carry out sand lifting without obtaining the CTO. We will carry out drives at ghats to stop the illegal activity," said Mandal.

Expressing concern over the rampant mining of sand, environmentalist K.K. Sharma said sand lifting caused damages to river habitat.

"Sand acts as an aquifer, a natural carpet at the bottom of a river. Stripping this layer leads to downstream erosion, causing changes in channel bed and habitat type, as well as deepening of a river and enlargement of its mouth. As the rivers deepen, groundwater is affected, leading to water woes and livelihood issues for farmers," he said.