Boko: Massive illegal sand mining threatens river dolphin’s lives in Chamaria

Boko: Illegal sand mining has caused enormous issues for a number of industries, including agriculture, aquatic endangered species, and many more from which people are currently suffering.

Even with all the evidence against illegal sand mining, some people manage to fill their own pockets by mining and smuggling sand to other locations for construction projects.

This particular incident came to light as a result of allegations made by certain environmentally conscious locals who wish to remain anonymous regarding the horrific effects of illegal sand mining in the Puthimari village area's Morakolohi River, which is within the Chamaria Revenue circle. They also alleged that due to the sand mining, many river dolphins have already lost their lives. It is to be mentioned that the area falls under the Nagarbera River Conservation Forest Office and Bamunigaon Forest Protection Range Office under West Kamrup Divisional Forest Office. However, the Forest department is paying no heed.

The smugglers responded to requests from those individuals to cease such activities by saying that they managed the authority in exchange for significant sums of money, which is why no one could take action to stop sand mining.

According to those anonymous people of the Chamaria area, smugglers are using pump motors for mining sand. On the other hand, during the day, more than 20 tractors and more than 15 to 20 dump trucks remove sand from the river at night.

The river dolphins that inhabit the Morakolohi River worry the locals. They are now horrified, nevertheless, that the state forest department are doing nothing to save the critically endangered river dolphins.

The Gangetic river dolphin, which is both the national aquatic animal and state aquatic animal of Assam, is a Schedule-1 species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and is also considered ‘endangered’ by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

River dolphins rely on healthy river ecosystems for their survival. However, human activities such as sand mining from rivers, damming, dredging, and pollution have severely impacted these ecosystems.

Even though the area is roughly one kilometre from the Chamaria Revenue Circle, two kilometres from the Chamaria Police Outpost and twenty kilometres from the Nagarbera River Conservation Forest Office, the State government has done nothing to stop the illegal sand mining and transportation. Upon being approached, Circle Officer Chamaria Bilivia Choudhury stated she was unaware of this situation. But she will investigate the situation shortly.

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