Sustainable policy on sand mining soon: Javadekar

The government proposes to introduce soon a new "sustainable sand mining" policy to curb illegal mining in river beds to prevent flooding, union Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday.

Talking to media persons here, Javadekar said: "We are in the process of giving final touches to a sustainable sand mining policy. Using satellites, we will determine which river has abundant sand deposits and only then will we allow mining there. We will not let the rivers die."

To further prevent illegal sand mining from river beds, he said barcoding system will also be introduced around the country to prevent excess removal.

"We will ensure that no one mines more than the permissible limit. For this, we will introduce barcode system wherein trucks ferrying sand will be barcoded with receipts which will help in the tracking of the vehicle," he said.

According to ministry sources, the draft notification is likely to be finalised in a meeting scheduled to take place on July 6 rpt 6.

Despite a Supreme Court order suggesting prosecution for those found mining sand from river banks and beds without a valid licence, the illegal activity has been thriving due to the boom in the construction sector in the country.