STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The All Dimasa Students' Union (ADSU), Dima Hasao district committee, has urged the Forest Department to take immediate action against alleged illegal and unregulated riverbed mining across major rivers and streams in the district.
In a representation to the Chief Conservator of Forests, Haflong, the ADSU president Armpit kaupuoi and general secretary Suraj Noiding alleged that excessive extraction of sand, gravel, stone and boulders, along with the use of heavy excavators in river channels, was causing severe ecological degradation in the Diyung, Mahur, Langting and Jatinga rivers.
The organisation alleged that unregulated mining was accelerating riverbank erosion, damaging aquatic habitats, affecting water security and threatening communities dependent on rivers for fishing, agriculture and household water needs.
The ADSU claimed that such activities violated provisions of the Assam Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2013, and guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal concerning riverbed mining.
The organisation demanded an immediate halt to non-compliant extraction, seizure of unauthorised heavy machinery and a joint ground inspection involving the Forest Department, Dima Hasao Autonomous Council officials, district administration, ecological experts and local representatives.
It also sought prosecution of operators allegedly working without valid mining plans, leases or environmental clearances and the designation of ecologically sensitive river stretches as no-mining zones.
The ADSU urged the authorities to initiate field-level action within 15 days, failing which it said it would pursue democratic agitation and approach the National Green Tribunal's Eastern Zone Bench.
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