​Soil erosion at Kihim, Awas due to mining’

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​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.