The suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal is not merely a question of illegal mining or a story of gross criminal illegality and intimidation. Seen in the long term, it could be well be connected with the existence of Noida and Greater Noida itself. The illegal sand mafia operating with impunity and under political protection in the riverine areas of Yamuna in UP’s Gautam Buddha district has given way to fear that another Kedarnath-like disaster is in the offing here. The scale of illegal mining in the Yamuna Khadar area in this district adjoining Delhi is such that environmentalists forsee a definite calamity in the years to come, should illegal mining not be controlled. And there are no signs of any control being excercised anytime soon, as the officer’s suspension has brought out.
With her suspension, allegedly at the behest of SP heavyweight leader Narendra Bhatti, it is alleged that the ruling party has no intention of curbing illegalities – in fact critics say it is a tacit signal that business can go on as usual as long as palms continue to be greased and illegal monies continue to flow into political coffers.
Durga Shakti Nagpal was doing a fine job as SDM. She had put the screws on a mafia seizing their trucks and tractors used to carry sand from the shores to the river bed after extensive drilling. Some alleged mafia members were also booked.
According to UP government’s own official documents, the scale of illegal mining in this area has been so extensive in the last two years that Yamuna has moved roughly 500 metres away from Haryana to UP. Environmentalists believe that if this shift continues under this steady threat of denudation, Noida and Greater Noida stand seriously threatened in the eventuality of high floods.
There is little doubt that Nagpal’s suspension has helped focus on this illegal trade like never before. The media and government spokesmen have labeled it a huge loss to the government exchequer.
Gautam Buddha Nagar is home to many of the world’s leading Fortune 500 companies and has emerged as a major IT-ITES hub along with lucrative business centres and elite residential colonies that throng its sand banks. These constructions, which have put Noida-Greater Noida on the global map of developed industrial oases, are geographically sensitive, based as they are on soft sand beds.
Says Magasaysay Award winner Rajinder Singh: “Gautam Buddha Nagar is situated in low lying areas of the Yamuna where the flow and curve of water is at its extreme. The impact of this large scale illegal mining is such that the river is steadily changing course. In the eventuality of floods, I believe that both Noida and Greater Noida could be submerged, its consequences utterly devastating.’’
Illegal mining continues unabated on the left bank of the Yamuna where the twin cities are situated. Says Manoj Mishra, coordinator of NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan: “The geological positioning of the left bank is such that it is three to five metres deeper than the right bank of the Yamuna. It is to avoid the onslaught of swirling Yamuna waters that ancient cities like Delhi, Mathura and Agra were constructed on the right bank. In the eventuality of high floods, abetted by rampant illegal sand mining, Gautam Buddha Nagar could be swamped out of existence.’’
Some other facts point to the inherent dangers. According to Ravi Chopra, well known environmentalist and expert member National Ganga River Basin Authority: “Gautam Buddha Nagar in constructed on a low slope so that when Yamuna water enters the district, it comes in at great speed. It increases the water velocity to an extent that the sand and mud beds are unable to contain the flow. With sand being siphoned away the way it is, there is every probability that the river is going to change its course even further. That is precisely what happened at Kedarnath.’’
According to information available with the UP irrigation department, on July 21, 2012, its executive engineer, Gautam Buddha Nagar, had informed the then district magistrate that the police had ignored several complaints about massive illegal sand mining. (see inset).
According to the letter, “At Kambakshpur, the site of illegal mining is 30 metres away from the embankment and is 15 to 20 metres deep. In 2011, at the time of high floods, the river had shifted 500 metres towards the embankment and this year there is a real threat that the bandh may break down under the onslaught of waters. If that happens, Noida will be seriously threatened. Many FIRs have been filed against illegal mining but the police has refused to take any action and the mining continues unabated.”
Just how powerful and influential the mafia is can be gauged from the fact that more than 80 FIRs have been registered by the state irrigation department against illegal miners in the last four years. According to informed sources, the police were not too keen to reveal details to Nagpal as well, until she put her foot down and decided to pursue the matter forcefully.
Kambakshpur has emerged as the hub of the illegal sand mining. The government had re-constructed the Hindon-Yamuna embankment in an effort to secure Noida after this barrage had been swept away at Yakutpur in 1996. Since then, villagers have been pressing upon successive state governments for restrengthening the embankment, in addition to building a few more. Officials say thousands of acres of cultivable land has been destroyed.
Says an irrigation department official: “The illegally constructed pools and over bridges by the mafia to transport sand were broken down, all thanks to SDM Nagpal. We used those heavy boulders to strengthen our own embankments. That helped in staving off further erosion of the banks and we were successful in keeping the river on course.’’
Illegal sand mining is estimated to be worth thousands of crores and the mafia in charge of operations is all powerful here. It is common knowledge that anyone who opposes their cottage industry will go the Nagpal way. A total of six spots have been identified where illegalities have crossed all acceptable limits. They include Kambakshpur, Kandavali, Tilwara, Jhuppa, Gulavati and Belakala.
According to rough irrigation department estimates, sand worth Rs 60 to 70 lakhs is illegally mined on a daily basis here. More than 500 tractors and any number of GCB machines are deployed. A tractor normally does four rounds in a day. The going prices for a tractor, allegedly extorted by the police is Rs 200 per trolley; for every GCB machine, Rs 5,000 per day is forked out while a truck costs Rs 3,000 each. The sand is transported on the tractors to the banks where trucks transport it to other states. According to estimates, the market value of each truck is pegged at Rs 14,000 each.
Interestingly legal mining in Yamuna Khadar area is permitted only for a length of 384 acres of land; this too only downstream of the Okhla barrage on a 1.5 to 3.5 kilometre stretch. Interestingly, the same person has continued to bag this right since the last 40 years.
After TSI’s expose in its April 28, 2013, issue (see inset) had exposed the murky goings on, Alok Kumar, secretary in the chief minister’s office had ordered an inquiry. Since then Nagpal too had increased the vigil on the miners who are well connected both in Lucknow and Delhi. Dehradun-based environmentalist Anil Joshi sums it up well. “Nature itself provides ample evidence of impending disasters. The fact that Yamuna has moved 500 metres towards Noida is a sign of what may happen. We can ignore it at our own peril.’’ Those interested in vote bank politics, could not care less.
