Bhopal:
The shocking murder of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Narendra Kumar Singh in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district, uncovered the flourishing mining mafia in the region which exists despite the Supreme Court ban seven years back. The Chambal region, which offers illegal sand miners an ample base to loot from, has fallen into a lull following the murder. However, upon closer look, NDTV found that underneath the calm, the illegal trade still continues.
The illegal mining business in the region has slowed down, but it has in no way stopped completely. Farm tractors laden with river sand, a visible sign of the illegal sand mining being carried can still be spotted in the region.
When asked, a trader admitted to extracting sand from the river bed. Although the murder has made it difficult, illegal miners continue to exploit the riverbed, albeit discreetly.
Ironically, the IPS officer's murder has driven up the price of sand and now the illegal miners get over Rs 2000 for a truckload. "These days we get over 2000 Rs. for a truck load because very few people dare to go out there and bring the stuff," the miner said.
The miners have a simple modus operandi: They take orders for the sand and supply the loot in the night.
Located in the heart of the Chambal region, Morena has always been notorious for the illegal sand trade carried out by people yielding political influence and their labourers who are paid well, and who never testify against them.
These traders sell the sand for almost Rs 65 per quintal in Morena and Gwalior. The price of the sand increases by almost 50 per cent as it reaches Delhi.
In order to protect the Indian gharials in the Chambal River, the Supreme Court in 2006 had banned mining in the region. But the ban was vagrantly ignored and the district had registered 55 cases of illegal sand mining last year and had seized 42 trucks of sand.
According to Mining Officer of Morena, R. K. Kaneria, there are 132 treasure mines where rock is quarried and there are no allotted areas for sand mining as it was banned.
Denying that illegal sand mining is carried out in the region, Mr Kaneria said, "Whenever we come across illegal sand mining we take action."
Blaming the authorities' 'half-hearted' approach to curbing mining, ex-BJP MLA, Gajraj Singh, says, "The people near Chambal are aware of the demand of sand and so got greedy to make money. But because the authorities are half-hearted about curbing illegal mining, the locals are encouraged to continue.''
The attack and subsequent murder of the IPS officer is not a stray incident; in the past, several officials have been attacked while trying to contain illegal mining in the region. The local authorities must adopt stringent measures to tackle the illegal mining menace in the region before more officers fall prey to the criminals.