Balasore: Tonnes of sand containing valuable metal are illegally being lifted by West Bengal smugglers from the banks of the Subarnarekha in Jaleswar area of Balasore, to be shipped later to various parts of the neighbouring state and even to Bangladesh, according to reports.
The state government is losing revenue to the tune of crores of rupees every year due to illegal sand mining while the administration is allegedly sitting pretty.
According to reports, mafia have engaged swamp pump sets to lift sand 50 ft below the river bed and load it on to boats. The boats carry the sand to the river bank from where excavators hired by the mafia load the sand onto trucks and tippers which then head to different destinations.
Hundreds of truckloads of sand are transported to Bangladesh via West Bengal every day, though the administration had launched crackdowns on sand mafia in the past.
People of riparian villages in Orissa feel tremors when the swamp pumps lift sand from the depth of the riverbed with great force. This has led to the riverbank caving in at many places.
Tremors and caving in of river banks was reported from riparian villages like Beherasahi, Malipala, Maguniapada, Totapada, Gorabghata, Dakhinapraharajpur, Rajnagar, Pendrasahi, Praharajpur, Guagadia, Munitunia, Mankadia and Kuanrpur. Villagers are panicked over the tremors and repeated bank collapses on a daily basis.
Reports said sand from the Subarnarekha is being supplied to Burdwan, Kolkata, and even Bangladesh. West Bengal mafia has set up temporary wooden bridges to supply sand from the state to across the river to West Bengal.
Subarnarekha originates from the Ranchi plateau and runs a course of 360 km. It flows for 60 km in north Orissa with West Bengal and Orissa locked in boundary disputes along a 10-km course of the river.
In 1938, then Balasore collector and commissioner S Suleiman had identified the river as a border for both the states.
About 100 sq km of riverbed in Dantun area of Medinapur in West Bengal was in the revenue record and map of Orissa. But since 2002, some West Bengal sand smugglers have been carrying out illegal sand quarrying at Beherashai village through swamp pump sets.
It is learnt that the sand contains traces of valuable metals like gold, lignite and titanium. This sand commands good prices in Bangladesh.
In Burdwan and Kolkata, some companies separate such valuable metal grains from sand with a special machine and supply sand to other parts.
As many as 56 riparian villages in Orissa are reportedly affected by the illegal sand quarrying. MLA Aswini Patra had earlier raised the issue of illegal sand mining in Subarnarekha in the Assembly, said locals, but lamented that nothing much has come of it. They demanded action against the sand mafia and an end to the rampant sand quarrying. PNN
