News

A non-government organization from West Bengal has recently launched India Sand Watch, a portal aiming to provide users with information on illegal sand mining activities across India. Veditum India Foundation, the organization behind the open-data project, intends to collect, collate, annotate, and archive sand-mining data. Illegal sand mining refers to the mining of sand from riverbeds without the necessary license or permit, causing significant environmental damage such as erosion and subsequent floods.

India Sand Watch aims to address the lack of large-scale tracking mechanisms for illegal sand mining in India. The concept for such a mechanism was conceived in 2016 by founder Siddharth Agrawal. After witnessing the scale of sand mining along the Ganga River, Agrawal collaborated with Akshay Roongta from Ooloi Labs, a technology company focusing on social and ecological causes, to develop a solution. Their objective was to identify and map locations where illegal sand mining occurs on a large scale.

Currently, the platform contains 800 public documents on sand mining, including news reports, tender documents, and district survey reports. District survey reports are conducted by administrative officials to assess the environmental impact before approving a mining project. The goal of India Sand Watch is to provide information that promotes accountability in sand mining practices throughout the country.

While India Sand Watch has ambitious goals, there are skeptics like Himanshu Thakkar, the coordinator of the South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers, and People. Thakkar questions the effectiveness of the platform’s comprehensive approach, suggesting that a more focused effort in specific areas is needed due to the decentralized nature of sand mining.

Sand mining is classified as a minor mineral under The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act, 1957. It is a significant problem in India, often resulting in attacks on journalists and government officials. India Sand Watch is the result of a decade-long collaboration between Veditum, Ooloi Labs, Rainmatter Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Trust, and UC Berkeley’s Global Policy Lab. The founders envision India Sand Watch as a valuable tool for journalists, activists, and researchers, aiming to provide information on sand mining activities and resistance against it.

In the future, the platform plans to incorporate remote sensing and satellite imagery for tracking, as well as releasing reports on the state of sand mining in five Indian states. Users will also be able to contribute information, with a verification mechanism in place. Despite the platform’s potential, Thakkar believes that effective law enforcement is crucial in combating illegal sand mining.

The post India Sand Watch: A New Portal to Track Illegal Sand Mining Activities appeared first on ISP Today.