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RELATEDKEYWORDS:Sumaira-Abdulali | Kihim

​Soil erosion at Kihim, Awas due to mining’
Vijay Singh, TNN | Jun 5, 2015, 05.57AM IST 0
NAVI MUMBAI: During a recent trip to Kihim and Awas beaches in Raigad district, environmentalist Sumaira Abdulali of the NGO Awaaz Foundation said that she was shocked to see soil erosion at several spots along the sandy shores of the beaches.
"I saw that many trees were uprooted and, at some places on Kihim beach, someone had removed a lot of sand, leaving a gaping hole. This is illegal sand mining,'' said Abdulali, who has made several complaints to the state authorities regarding such illegal sand mining activities in the past.
"In the last two years, I must have made a dozen complaints about the illegal sand mining by using the heavy-duty suction pumps in parts of Raigad and also Navi Mumbai and Thane," she added.
She also said that there is also a recent National Green Tribunal (NGT) order that prevents the use of machinery to carry out sand mining in these CRZ areas.
While the state government has acted upon a few of the sand mining complaints, several environmentalists feel that it is not enough. They have said that more punitive action is required to hit back at the sand mafia.
Raigad district collector Sumant Bhange said, "Kihim beach is a tourist destination and hence I feel it is not possible to carry out such illegal activities here. But I have told all my 15 taluka representatives to take stern measures against any illegal degradation of the environment."
Raigad police had also been reportedly alerted to file FIRs on any such activity.
Meanwhile, the Awaaz Foundation activist also said that that such thefts usually take place late in the night to avoid detection.
 

Maharashtra Government mulls policy to impose VAT, entry tax on import of sand
PTI May 22, 2015, 11.28AM IST


Tags: National Green Tribunal | Maharashtra government | Konkan | finance | Eknath Khadse | Awaaz Foundation
MUMBAI: Maharashtra government is mulling over a policy that may allow entry tax and VAT to be imposed on import of sand from neighbouring states to stop its illegal smuggling.
The revenue and finance department will come together and frame a policy that will prevent illegal smuggling of sand and increase revenue of the state ex-chequer, Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse said yesterday.
Referring to National Green Tribunal's decision of August 2013 that banned mining or removal of sand from the river beds, Khadse said this had opened doors for illegal mining in the Konkan region.
"The mining of sand had been stopped since the last two years as Awaaz Foundation had challenged it in the National Green Tribunal. This had badly affected the construction sector in the Konkan region," he said. "Although it was banned, contractors used illegal ways for sand mining. Illegal mining has to be stopped in the state," he stressed.
Khadse said he was aware that sand was imported from neighbouring states and was used in Mumbai and Konkan region, even when there was a ban on sand mining.
"Till date, neighbouring states provide sand to Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. The trucks reach the city at night or early morning. There is no tax applicable on import of sand which enters in the state by legal or illegal ways. Thus, we have decided to bring a stringent law, by which we can impose Value Added Tax (VAT) and entry tax on the import of sand," the minister said.
Since tax is a subject of the finance department, the revenue and finance department will work together on the formulation and application of the new law.
"This will not only stop illegal transport of sand in the state, but will also get us revenue. However, at present it is not possible to comment on the amount of revenue that the state will generate," Khadse said.