Their beds ripped daily, rivers fly into a rage | India News

Rampant mining in the Ganga, Yamuna and their tributaries is robbing these rivers of ‘river bed material’ (RBM), which can lead to flash floods, experts say. The whole country saw the effect of river mining a few days ago when a college building on the outskirts of Dehradun, built almost on the river floodplain, collapsed like a pack of cards. On August 15, a double-storey house collapsed in Helang, 13km from Joshimath town, killing two occupants. The house stood near a stone crusher and its foundations had weakened, according to the disaster management authorities.
Yet, mining continues at some places in the rivers clandestinely at night and with the state’s blessing during the day as the government continues to relax mining norms. A source told TOI Uttarakhand is targeting a record profit of Rs 875 crore through mining this financial year, adding, “The state has earned Rs 275 crore from mining so far this year till June.” In fact, the mining period for some rivers was extended in June – a risky time due to the rains. Officials from the mining department say the rivers are being mined lawfully after scientific analysis and “with due clearance from the stakeholder ministries”. Nevertheless, the impact of almost non-stop mining is evident in streams like Gola, Nandhaur, Sharda, Dabka, Kosi, Maalang, Ganga, Kotwali, Song and Jakhan where the frequency of flash floods has increased.
Medha Patkar, noted activist and founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan, told TOI, “Our rivers are dying and drying, don’t stifle them further… Mining is impacting the jal chakra (water cycle), which is one of the major contributors in flood and drought cycles. These two extreme events are happening sometimes simultaneously, and this can have catastrophic impacts on the ecosystem and society. The riv ers, their floodplains, river beds, river catchments need to be left free, as per Central Water Commission guidelines, but they are being openly violated.”
Environmentalist Ravi Chopra, who has extensively studied the rivers of Uttarakhand, added, “Our rivers are being exploited for their water resources, ignoring their ecology and thereby damaging much of their wealth. We are suffering from the absence of a planned approach to development. The laissez-faire approach is destroying Uttarakhand’s natural resources.”
In a similar vein, Swami Shivanand Saraswati, head of Haridwarbased Matri Sadan ashram, whose seers have been crusading for decades to protect rivers from mining and dams on the Ganga, said, “Unprecedented mining is making our Himalayan towns vulnerable to the smallest of natural disasters. Civilisation took root near rivers, not the other way round, therefore, humans need to control themselves rather than trying to control rivers through mining.”