 "Choi")
With 65% of its area covered by forests and 86% by the Himalayas, Uttarakhand has always struggled to balance the need for development with the imperative of preserving its rich natural resources. However, with the recent lifting of a ban on mining and a proposal to build a road through core tiger habitats in the state, its fragile ecology is being threatened like never before. The first of a two-part series looks at sand mining on its riverbeds.
Five years ago, Chandrashekhar Tamta used to get 20 quintals an acre from his litchi orchard in village Choi, Ramnagar. Today, the
