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| Sunday, 30 April 2006 |
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Call to stop sand mining in Kelani river forthwith by Elmo Leonard Stop mining sand in the Kelani river forthwith as a study reveals, it will take 70 years to restore the bed of this over-mined river, executive director Lanka Hydraulic Institute, Malith Mendis said. But the consequence of over-sand-mining in populated parts of the country is far more critical, it was made out at a 'national dialogue on river sand and clay mining,' organised by the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. Academics and authorities on the subject said that the loss of natural resources along over-sand-mined-rivers is inestimable. Time will not restore the damage done to the environs of these rivers. Alternatives for sand, for construction must be harnessed immediately. Such practices are carried out all over the world, even in India. Lawyers said that according to legislation, sand belongs to the state. Sand mining is the work of a mafia, in some instances the police are allegedly bribed. In some instances the police are beaten up by thugs who are backed by politicians, and an officer-in-charge of a police station is currently in the intensive care unit. A woman who identified herself as the wife of a politician said that her husband who is on the national list was not as popular as other politicians who get the majority of preferential votes. Such politicians belong to the sand mafia and one, had an alleged murder charge, pending, showing the complexity of solving the problem. Social scientists present, were called on to explain why such corrupt politicians were so popular. Demand for sand has increased from 2003 to today. The cost has gone up 160 percent to reach Rs. 3,800 per cube, in Colombo. Secretary General of the Construction Industry of Sri Lanka, Dakshitha Thalgodapitiya said that in the United Kingdom, 24 million cubic metres of sand were needed per year, and all of it was mined from the sea. The national estimates of sand requirements were incorrect and far more sand was needed for the island's construction purposes. A sea sand dredger would cost $10 to $20 million, as dredging has to be carried out from 6-7 kilometres offshore. Dredged sand has to be washed or stored for long periods for desalination and requires large extents of land. Some people want to import sand. Others want to dredge sand but no company had done a study on offshore sand reserves, Thalgodapitiya said. A study was done by Dr. Ranjith Dissanayake and Prof Athula Senaratne of the University of Peradeniya. Prof. Dissanayake said that tsunami reconstruction alone added 10 million to the 17 million cubes of sand needed annually, which grows by 10 percent. Rivers are exhausted of sand and bridges were in danger of collapse. Other professionals said that in Elpitiya, Mahiyangana and Galle, bridges were in danger of collapse, while lesser known bridges had fallen into the rivers. An authority, Ms. Kusum Athukorala, said that the Deduru Oya river was heavily over-mined to feed the construction needs of the Western province. Some bridges over the Deduru River would be in danger of collapse if mining goes on. Mining of sand within 600 metres of a bridge is illegal, but the banks of the river had collapsed for hundreds of metres, due to over-mining. Among railway bridges in danger of collapse, is one which cost Rs 600 million to build, Ms Athukorala said. A documentary showing the perils of over-mining rivers in the Western and North Western provinces were part of the agenda. A study done by Professors Malik Ranasinghe and N.J.G.J. Bandara of the University of Moratuwa show that of 103 rivers in Sri Lanka, the third largest and the one with the highest discharge of sand is the Kalu Ganga which outflows at Kalutara. The lower reaches of this river is densely populated and its inhabitants are dependent on sand mining. It has adversely affected the quality of water of the river, scientific studies showed. Other specialists said that consequent to over-mining of sand, the water table was falling, wells were running dry and agricultural lands were left fallow. In other instances, sea water enters rivers overflows its banks and leaves such land salivated. There are recent studies done by universities on the subject of
alternatives to sand for construction. Ranjith Dissanayake cited dune sand.
Others said that dunes prevent the action of tsunamis. Also, crushed stone
materials and crushed quartzite. Such deposits in large quantities have been
identified and commercial production, begun. |
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