Before you read a word of what I have to say, I'd encourage you to look at this photo-essay since the rest of my post is based on this story.
The Konkan coast along the Western Ghats of India is one of the world's most beautiful regions. Dense with tropical foliage and home to several thousands of creatures that you will find nowhere else on earth, the Western Ghats region has in fact been listed as a biodiversity hotspot. (apparently, to be classified as one, it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation). A study done in 2000 states that the area is one of the world’s ten ‘hottest biodiversity hotspots’, with at least 325 globally threatened species occuring there. Considering that we are now in 2012, I'm sure that number will be far far higher. It is a delicate yet critical region that is under tremendous stress due to human callousness. The threats are many, but the focus of this blog is particularly on sand mining and its impacts. But why should you care? Because destruction of this peripheral region has further implications, particularly if you are Indian. To illustrate better, I’d like to liken it to the margins of a garment. When the margins become unraveled, before long, the entire garment starts getting damaged. The Western Ghats are a very crucial watershed region for the country. Many rivers that give life to the peninsula originate in the western ghats. We ignore the health of these riverine ecosystems at our own peril. So even if we don't live along the coast, it is critical to protect them. Demand for sand is fueled by a powerful construction lobby/mafia. Governments are often reluctant to take action for fear of impacting the construction industry, which acts as a bellwether of how the economy is faring. When faced with extreme public opinions/ litigation, many resort to importing sand from elsewhere, probably replicating the same disasters out there.
I visited 3 villages in Mahad, Toradi and Bankot situated in the Raigad and Ratnagiri districts of Maharashtra in mid 2011. It was one of the most moving experiences of my life. Scary too, because I went in there as a student researcher, yet found that our entourage was being tracked, presumably by those involved in the sand mining business. If I did not have my brother present with me, I would have probably turned back right then. Although sand mining is rampant across India, many villages I contacted refused to allow me to research the area because it was such a politically sensitive topic. This visit to Maharashtra happened because of the support of brave people like Sumaira Abdulali from Awaaz foundation and Naseer Jalal, the local activist you saw in the photo-essay mentioned at the start of this blog. They have been campaigning tirelessly against sand mining for several years now. In 2010, Sumaira and a team from Times of India were also attacked when they went to survey the sites. Dredging in the area has been going on for the last 20 years and initially was welcomed because it brought a new form of employment. However, with mechanical dredging, several problems have surfaced over the last 10 years and locals have been demanding a stop to this activity. Sumaira and Naseer have each used the Right to Information Act (RTI) to obtain reports of resolutions of various gram panchayats that confirm this popular protest. Yet, sand mining continues unabated. According to Sumaira, 'a very small percentage of the money actually generated from the sand business is official. Sand is one of the best sources for ‘black money’ and is a primary source of election funding across party lines. This explains the high degree of political involvement in this business. Another reason politicians are reluctant to take action is that sand is a free commodity, and monopolistic in geographical areas. The builder lobby is well served by maintaining a situation where alternate sources such as recycled or manufactured sand is ignored. Links between politicians and builders is essential to maintain this status quo.' The villagers too confirmed this view of local politicians being involved in the sand mining business.
It was startling to discover how a supply chain for a commodity can result in complete alienation of the end-consumer from the origins of the product. Sand was more than sand to the local communities in all the three villages I visited, without exception. To the urban dwellers I interviewed, sand was merely a 'commodity', something to be gotten as cheaply as possible, with little regard to the consequences. The wonder of it is that some of them had read about the ill-effects of sand mining and they were able to rattle off the effects like one would recite a list of sorts. But few demonstrated comprehension of those words, if they knew them at all. To say, 'yes, there are some landslides here and there' is not enough. Do we realize that landslides mean that people could lose their lives? their family? their occupations? the place could be cut off from the rest of the world for a few weeks until the government steps in to clear the rubble? that people might need to move entire villages to safer ground (which incidentally is fast disappearing)? That we leave villagers no choice but to move to cities in search of a way to feed their families and then complain about overcrowding and slums in the cities? I believe we understand best when we see first hand what it can mean. To understand the sense of helplessness that villagers experience when their only source of livelihood is snatched away from them and their life's learning is reduced to nothing is an experience that I promise you won't forget in a hurry.
More about what I found...The area had only one university for miles. The fishermen and farmers I interviewed were mostly illiterate. Their well-being and that of their families depended solely on their skills and ability to work with nature. With large scale dredging, their world was rapidly being decimated before their very eyes.
- As per law, no dredging was allowed during the night, but in reality it was said to continue non-stop over 24 hours, every day of the year. I wonder who/what can survive such onslaught? The constant noise of mechanised dredging all day and all night was a major inconvenience to the residents because it also hampered sleep and the functioning of primary and secondary schools in the area.
- Both Mahad and Toradi faced similar challenges in that they were located along the river, downstream from an industrial estate run by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).Many interviewees said that the practice of discharging industrial effluents still occurred 'between 2-4 am in the morning' when everyone was still asleep, leading to massive fish kills and making the water unfit for agriculture or drinking for that matter.
- The deep dredging had worsened the problem by reducing the water table and removing the last barrier to the leaching chemicals, thus allowing them to seep further inland making groundwater unfit for domestic consumption. As one person said : ‘These 42 wells not recently digging – ancient 100 – 200 years like that, after started dredging – water not for drinking. Now both side problems – chemicals and dredging.’ A report by the government‟s Primary Health Centre confirmed the worst suspicions of the locals with '4 hoi and 38 nahi' (4 yes and 38 nos) on various parameters.
- Fishing was also affected because it was seasonal and fishermen could not fish during monsoons. They did not have an alternate means of livelihood, especially during the off-season. Therefore, the rest of the 8 months of work completely determined their quality of life. One person said, ‘In the past, 5 people depended on one boat but today one boat can support only 1-2 people - can’t give wages. It is difficult to maintain families'. Another said, 'No bank is willing to give us a loan. We need to educate our children but we can’t afford it.’
- Sand barges often damaged fishing nets and reduced their catch. There had also been occasions of collision with fishing boats but 'no one was willing to register complaints'. They spoke of barges shifting sand and clay which resulted not only in nets going under soil because of disturbance but also disturbed navigational channels which then hampered local fishing operations especially during low tide.
Source: http://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seasand.htm#present
- We must also not mistake the ecosystem to be merely passive. It adapts. constantly. The trouble is that we're pushing the limits when we force such rapid adaptation. There is a distinct possibility that the new state of equilibrium may not suit humans as much. Let me explain what I mean. The constant noise and disturbance of breeding grounds is changing the kind of fish that can survive in the river because those that are sensitive to turbidity in the water and noise and pollution quickly die off. Consequently, the high-value catch for the local fishermen has diminished. One fisherman said, ‘Fifteen years ago – could catch 50 pamplets (the local term for Pomfret – a high value catch) in 1 hour but today - hard to catch 4-5 even if you spend a whole day. Our life is under pressure. Afraid of being dashed by the barges'.Official statistics too confirm this trend of declining fish stocks, though they do not attribute it to sand mining.
I could talk/write about this topic much more at the risk of making it sound like a litany and losing your attention. Suffice it to say that uncontrolled sand mining has several environmental and social consequences as mentioned here and in my previous blog on this topic.
What can we do about it?
Sumaira says,'Construction all over the world except in developing countries uses recycled material and/or offshore sand. Countries likes India need to invest in the technologies and, particularly now, with the economic boom, actively conserve our nautral resources. Crushed rock is often quoted as an alternative. But it is hardly a better alternative in the Indian situation. This is another ‘free’ material; part of the mountain chain of the Western Ghats is being destroyed by the same politicians who earlier mined sand and have now moved to tearing down mountains for rock. There is developing local resistance to this too.There are several commercially viable processes for recovery of sand and/or manufacture of aggregate in place of sand for construction. These include manufacture of aggregate from metal slag, glass, debris etc. In some Scandinavian countries, natural sand is not permitted to be used until 100% debris at a reconstruction site is first utilized. In the UK, metal slag is used, mostly for road construction.'
We also desperately need to improve governance. Scientific reports by experts need to be given due importance. In this case, a report submitted in August 2011 by Mr.Madhav Gadgil, the head of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel has been hushed up. Sumaira says 'After the report came out, the government refused to share it with stakeholders. It refused to provide a copy under the RTI Act. Then it made an appeal in court that it does not want to share it nor even the list of reasons for doing so. It shows how committed the government is in not including stakeholders in decision making.' Read more here and here.
There is a lot that needs to be done and can be done. If you are in India and are building your own house, go beyond convenience and examine where the sand is being sourced from. Even better, do explore using alternative materials. But be careful that the alternatives being offered are indeed responsibly sourced. If you are an engineer, here is a fantastic opportunity to research alternate building materials that have properties similar to sand. If you are a student or an academician, research this topic further. Whatever be our field, you and I need to find a way to get involved. We need to help organizations such as Awaaz and locals like Naseer in their fight for environmental justice. I'm of the opinion that local people can be custodians of their environment because their very lives are entwined with its survival. But they risk isolation and suppression by powerful people.
In matters of food, clothing and other activities, we are influenced in many ways by the physical setting in which we live – coastal, desert, mountainous or forest regions. But we are also proficient at changing the environment 'with unprecedented speed and effect' (National Academy of Sciences, 1969, p26). With globalization, there is a tendency for infrastructure, especially urban ones to be similar across geographies (ibid). Roads, bridges, airport runways are soon becoming ubiquitous. Availability of sand or the lack thereof thus directly or indirectly affects all who partake in this cup of modernity. The immediate effects of the lack though are felt most by the local community. Contrary to literature that says sand mining is not as environmentally damaging as other kinds of mining, it may be even more so because of its insidious nature and the fact that its effects often take decades to surface. Mining for iron ore or bauxite may cause alteration of the landscape so violently that its ill-effects are impinged on the viewer's consciousness instantly whereas the gradual transformation of sand into new islands, bridges, roads, houses, paints, windows, bottles, glassware, metals and other things that are taken for granted in modern urban lives is almost imperceptible. Each of us needs to find a way to not be mere mute spectators and bury our heads in the sand. I'd like to end this post with this inspiring quote. 'Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.' - Mother Teresa. That is what will make the difference.
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