By Marcellus D’Souza

Apr 27: Local residents of Devsan-Korgao and Naibag-Poraskade described the two raids carried out as a ‘publicity stunt’, claiming that there were many other boats indulging in similar sand extraction activity and had not been seized.

The raids were carried out after the Bombay High Court at Goa gave a stern order directing the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to file affidavits by May 2 over repeated instances of violation of orders and illegal sand mining especially in the Tiracol River.

While officials from the Captain of Ports seized 26 boats from the Tiracol river at Naibag near Poraskade, Pernem police raided a sand extraction site at Devsan-Korgao and seized sand which had been illegally extracted from the Tiracol river.

A joint operation was carried out by Captain of Ports and Pernem Police and 26 boats were seized at Naibag-Poraskade for illegally excavating sand from the river. While six boats were in the river, 20 other boats were stationed along the river banks. The seized canoes were handed over to the Pernem police.

“We had come to take stock of the situation regarding illegal sand activity in the area and we seized 26 boats. We will check if owners of these boats have documents with them. So far, no one has come forward and so we handed over the boats to Pernem police. Operations like this one will continue in future," said an official from the Captain of Ports.

Locals claim there are about 500 boats involved in sand extraction in several places along the Tiracol and Chapora Rivers, adding that around 5,000 families are dependent on the livelihood.

They sought to know why it had taken officials this long to take the action since illegal excavation has been an issue for several years.

Asked if officials were under pressure from politicians, an official present at the site replied, “There is always political pressure on officials as sand is an important component of the construction business. However, we had given licenses to only 10 boats but dozens of boats were found in the river and we conducted the raid.”

The team consisted of Deputy Captain of Ports Premlal Sirsaiker, Pernem Mamlatdar Anant Malik and Pernem Police Inspector Vikram Naik.

Justice M S Sonak and Justice R N Laddha of the Bombay High Court is hearing the case. The Goa Rivers and Sand Protectors Network (GRSPN) had filed a contempt petition. The court observed, “At least, prima facie, we think that this is a serious matter, because, instances are on the rise to defy not only court orders but to unauthorisedly extract sand, thereby causing environmental degradation. From the rise in such instances, we get an impression, which we sincerely hope is wrong, that the authorities are not seriously interested in controlling this activity of unauthorised sand extraction. There is virtually a game of hide-and-seek going on and the impression that we get is that the authorities are not doing enough to prevent it.”

Norma Alvares, counsel for GRSPN told the court that on April 10 and April 18, illegal sand mining was carried out at night and there were about 50-60 canoes engaged in the activity in Tiracol River in Uguem village of Pernem on the night of April 10. On April 18, Alvares said, the illegal activity was carried out using 22 canoes.
Vinayak Mahale, member of the GRSPN and resident of Uguem, in his affidavit, said “that around 11.30 pm on April 10, there were 12-15 labourers on each of the 50-60 canoes engaged in illegal mining. He said sand mining in Uguem was a routine with extraction taking place between 11 pm and 6 am.”

“…The rampant sand mining taking place for a long time has led to the sinking of the Tiracol bed from around 60 metre to 160 metre. I say that coconut, mango and other plantations and farms of local villagers have been severely affected due to the land sliding that has occurred as a consequence of the illegal sand mining in Uguem,” the affidavit said.

The Court observed: “Besides, we wonder how 50 to 60 canoes can be involved in such an activity, and yet the police authorities and the mamlatdar claim virtual ignorance of what is happening at these sites. There is record that on both these occasions, complaints were filed to the Pernem police station and to the mamlatdar, urging action”.

The court asked the officials to explain, “As to why despite all the mechanisms they claim they have put in place, such incidents continue unabated”. “The onus cannot be put entirely on activists or environmentalists to point out such incidents many a times, at the cost of risk to themselves and only thereafter, some modicum of action is reported. It is the duty of the state to prevent such activity in terms of the law,” the judges observed.

Recently, Uguem villagers threatened to block the National Highway 66 at Uguem if the government failed to stop the illegal sand extraction activity in the jurisdiction of Tamboxem-Mopa-Uguem Village Panchayat.

A delegation of farmers submitted a memorandum at Pernem Police Station demanding action against illegal sand mining activities in Uguem village. This is the second memorandum that the farmers have submitted within a week, wherein they have highlighted that even after giving live proof of sand extraction activities in Tiracol River, the police failed to act.

A villager Uday Mahale said, “Similar to last week, on Sunday night again, we noticed 22 canoes carrying extracted sand. We immediately informed the Costal Police about it. Acting on the same, the Coastal Police rushed to the site. However, they came by road instead of coming by boat due to which they were unable to act or seized the canoes with sand.”

The locals also said that they are not against sand mining in Tiracol River but only pertaining to the river stretch right from Railway Bridge to Uguem.

“We are not against sand mining but concerned about this particular stretch since due to continuous sand mining for the last 25 years, the Uguem villagers are getting affected badly as their agriculture land gets submerged in river water. While increase in depth of the river, it is posing danger to the railway bridge at Porascadem,” Narayan Mahale said.

Swapnil Sherlekar of Goencho Awaz, who was also present with the farmers while submitting the memorandum said, “The matter is in the court. So when the court asks for statement from the concerned department officials they show ignorance about sand extraction activities. Due to this, last month, on March 17, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) had issued a standing order to the police that as soon as the police receive a complaint, they should act. In one week, two such incidents are bought before the office of Pernem Police Station.”

“Time and again we have asked for patrolling in the river because if the police show their presence in the river with a boat, then these activities will be stopped. We will produce these two letters in the court. We expect that an action will be initiated in this matter,” Sherlekar said.