Give Goa relaxation for sand mining like Andaman islands: CM to Centre

Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant has urged Union govt to relax the sand extraction norms for the state akin to those stipulated for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He sought amendments to the CRZ notifications of 2011 and 2019 besides sustainable mining guidelines.Sawant said that the prohibition of sand extraction under these notifications adversely affected the availability of sand besides the livelihood of dependent families.
Chief minister highlighted the issues pertaining to river morphology, sand availability and its effect on the state economy.
“Most rivers originate from Western Ghats and have a bed span of 60 to 80km. Out of these, 20 to 30 km come in the tidal affected zone,” Sawant said.“In the initial hilly stretches, rivers flow with high velocity in metamorphic/granitic formations and do not generate much sediment load (sand). Instead, they are full of cobbles, pebbles etc. The majority of these deposits are in the reserved forest areas,” he said.
State govt conducted EIA/EMP modelling studies under the aegis of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), which reported that there is not much sand available in the upper reaches of the river.“The available riverine materials like cobbles, pebbles, etc. are reducing the flow area of the river and causing floods. These deposits also reduce water storage capacity in bandharas and barrages, on which drinking and agriculture water requirements depend,” Sawant said.
Earlier, state govt was investing a lot of funds to desilt these storage barrages, he said adding, “Now, I have initiated steps to auction the river pebbles, etc. The auctioneer will be allowed to desilt the riverbed span to the level and extent permitted as per the norms. This will generate revenue to the state and create employment opportunities.”
“Due to the peculiar geomorphology of the river stretches, the fine and coarse sand deposits found in the tidal affected stretches of the river, sand extraction is a challenge, Sawant said.“The study report on the Mandovi River has elaborated the issue and brought out the difficulties in implementing the Sustainable Guidelines for Sand Mining 2020 issued by the ministry of environment in the state.”
“The conditions have culminated in a difficult situation for the administration to make available the required sand for the growing construction industry. Hence, the state needs certain relaxation for the purpose of extraction of sand under the prevailing CRZ rules and regulations,” Sawant said.
“It was informed that the ministry will consider and resolve the difficulties faced. In case of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, permission for extracting sand at identified and approved sites by the Institute of Ocean Management (IOM) Chennai, with the quantity of sand to be extracted is fixed and the activity will be monitored by a committee,” Sawant said.