The land of lawlessness, Nagaland, continues to also sprout myriad avenues for corruption and opportunist profiteers to exploit the state’s equally myriad resources, unchecked. A local group has raised alarm at the damage along the riverbed of Dikhu River the effects of which is being borne by the people along the river’s banks.
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| This image handed out by a local concern purports to show trucks engaged in mining the riverbed of Dikhu River in Naginimora in Mon district. Contractors and local touts are mining the river of sand, gravel, stones and bounders unrestricted an unchecked, a local group said on Wednesday. The unregulated activity is devastating the river, and upsetting the region’s ecology and affecting the livelihood of the people along its banks, it was alleged. |
The ‘department’ in concern and the government of Nagaland is asked to stop the ‘riverbed mining’ in Naginimora and disallow any kind of ‘machinery mining’ in other parts of the state of Nagaland “if the benefits are over shadowed by the ill effects of such mining.”
A business group, the Fingerprint-Design & Events, is undertaking a campaign for conservation of wildlife and environment. Members of the group informed on Wednesday that they visited Dikhu River in Naginimora, in Mon district, to “observe the devastation done because of the machinery riverbed mining.”
“Humans have always had a special relationship with rivers. They provide fresh water for drinking, irrigation, washing and for various other purposes. But rivers are not just water,” Fingerprint-Design & Events stated in a press release issued through the media on Wednesday.
“Activities including agriculture, transportation, building homes, and everyday chores have all been part of the interaction between water, land and people. Riverbeds are where civilizations have been established and human beings have found the most lucrative livelihoods.”
The group expressed concern that mining the river for gravel, stones and boulders straight from riverbeds and riverbanks across the state of Nagaland, has seen an unprecedented rise.
The press release stated: “Each day truckloads of gravel, stone and boulders are extracted for a variety of reasons. One of the most important factors driving up demand in recent years has been the rise of construction activities in the state as gravel, Stone and Boulders has become an important ingredient for construction purposes.”
The under-managed, unregulated and large-scale mining of gravel, stones and boulders from riverbeds and riverbanks on Dikhu River in Naginimora is not devoid of environmental and social impacts, the group explained.
“Riverbed mining causes erosion and often leaves the river-plains much more vulnerable to natural calamities. In-stream gravel, stone and boulders mining is a practice that has been found to have extreme impacts, not only to riverine ecosystems, but also to nearby villages and town. This practice commonly sees the complete change of the riverbed structure.”
The practice, Fingerprint-Design & Events stated, has been known to be very damaging for nearly a century in all parts of the world and is increasingly being banned entirely. “The extensive damage to the ecosystem that is caused by this type gravel, stone and boulder mining is not easily repaired, either by nature or by man’s efforts. The damages therefore persist for decades or longer,” it stated.
According to the Geological Survey of India (GSI), riverbed mining causes several alterations to the physical characteristics of both a river and riverbed. These can severely impact not only the ecological equilibrium of a river but also damage plants, animals and human habitats.
Some of the principal affects of mining rivers
Fingerprint-Design & Events listed out some of the dangers and impact of ‘riverbed mining.’River channel changes: River mining basically removes the channel of the river from the riverbed. It leaves behind a flat, featureless plain with virtually no place left for many, if not most of the river fauna to exist.
Water depth decreases: The flattening of the river channel resulting from river mining allows the river water to spread out over a larger area creating a much shallower water depth than would normally be present. River fauna that require greater water depth can no longer exist in the shallower water.
Velocity increases: When the natural channel of a river is destroyed, water spreads out over a larger area, its speed increases, relative to the stream bottom. A given amount of water can therefore erode a larger amount of river bed.
Freshness of water decreases: The effects of increased erosion creates greater turbidity (cloudiness/ murkiness/dirty) of the river water overall. When a river is deep, the flow slows down and sand and gravel and fine sediments drop to the bottom. With a shallower river there is more fine sediment in the water which changes the character of the stream from a clear to a murkier state and those fauna that require clear fresh water can no longer survive.The ultimate result of river mining is the removal of the natural river system. The natural river system is replaced with an unstable, difficult to restore and relatively unproductive ecosystem, often with vastly different characteristics from the natural river. The loss of this ecosystem effects the overall environment in many and far reaching ways.
The riverbanks are a special ecosystem that cannot be replicated. When the bank’s collapse from increased sideways erosion of the river channel, these ecosystems are lost. When the riverbed is deepened, less sediment accumulates on riverbanks in floods so the natural rebuilding of the banks is decreased. The riverbanks are not only a unique habitat, but they supply wildlife with a road to the river to reach food and water. These impacts will continue, like most of the other impacts, long after the mining has concluded.
The question here, Fingerprint-Design & Events stated, is “Why no one does cares about the damage that is being done in Dikhu River in Naginimora?” Is it because we are ignorant about it or we don’t care what happens in such a rural and isolated place like Naginimora? Or do we have the notion that small environmental changes like this will not affect our larger peaceful environment.”
The group cited the case of Bhutan: the country is carbon neutral or negative as it absorbs more carbon than it emits but it is experiencing the brunt of the Global Warming with the increase in floods as the Glacier is melting rapidly.
“The country (Bhutan) has expressed that they have never contributed to the global warming but they have been affected because of lack of environmental concern in some other countries. Now, the damage along the riverbed in Dikhu River will affect all those people along the river who depend on the river as their source of livelihood,” the press release stated.
Dikhu River’s suffering
According to the group, the damage being inflicted on the river is “unimaginable and completely irreversible.” The extensive river mining with machinery started in 2008 and the government has been receiving a royalty of Rs. 50 per truck, the press release stated.
“Commercial riverbed mining can be done with certain check and balance but the so-called land owners have sold off the right to extraction along the riverbed to contractors from outside the state without any restriction and condition. The outcome is complete plunder of the riverbed. The land owner and the contractors are more concerned for immediate profit and wouldn’t care about the long term effects of the damage they have done.”Fingerprints expressed concern: “How can you own a riverbed or river for that matter” Do we need to start owning the Atmosphere to sell or let other people extract oxygen?”
The group has urgently requested the department in concern and the government of Nagaland to stop the ‘riverbed mining’ in Naginimora and disallow any kind of machinery riverbed mining in other parts of the state of Nagaland “if the benefits are over shadowed by the ill effects of such mining.”
Fingerprints has called for regulations in the lines of Dimapur district where the use of machinery in mining is illegal, or at least regulated so in the order of the district commissioner. We were not so poorer before such mining and we are not so richer by mining now and definitely we are not going to be richer when the entire riverbeds are damaged by such mining. But we are definitely positive that such mining will destroy the river as a source of livelihood for our younger future generation. Let us always remember this that Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
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