{"id":132595,"date":"2026-11-11T11:33:35","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T06:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=132595"},"modified":"2026-11-11T11:33:35","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T06:03:35","slug":"river-sand-mining-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/river-sand-mining-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"River Sand Mining in India &#8211; Supreme Court Panel\u2019s Recommendations"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>River Sand Mining Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has recommended phasing out unsustainable sand extraction from active river channels within three years and developing alternative sources to meet construction demand.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Background and CEC Recommendations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The recommendations form part of CEC Report No. 36 of 2026, submitted to the Supreme Court on November 2, in the suo motu proceedings concerning illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court had expanded the proceedings to cover river sand mining across India, after expressing concern over its damaging impact on river ecosystems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CEC has proposed a time-bound roadmap to progressively phase out unsustainable extraction from active river channels over three years.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The transition would be supported by alternative sources, including:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Reservoir sediment:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Sand recovered through planned desilting of dams.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Manufactured Sand (M-sand):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Produced by crushing and processing suitable rock. It can substitute natural river sand in construction when it meets Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Recycled Construction and Demolition (C&amp;D) Waste:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Recovered material that can help meet construction requirements.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Reservoir Desilting as an Alternative<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CEC has recommended a time-bound desilting programme, with contracts for eligible works awarded within three years, followed by a structured 10-year cycle for reservoirs identified as suitable.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proposed framework includes:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assessing all storage dams older than 15 years that have not undergone systematic desilting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Desilting approximately one-tenth of suitable reservoirs annually.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Selling recovered sand through transparent mechanisms.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ensuring that desilting is based on technical and environmental suitability rather than treating it as mandatory for every dam.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ministry of Jal Shakti has been recommended as the lead agency for developing a national framework in consultation with relevant institutions, including the Central Water Commission, National Dam Safety Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and State Governments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Reservoir Sedimentation and Storage Loss<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CEC cited Ministry of Jal Shakti data presented to Parliament in December 2025:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of the 439 assessed reservoirs, average gross storage loss due to sedimentation was <\/span><b>19.24%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twenty-three reservoirs had lost more than half of their storage capacity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gobind Sagar reservoir, behind the Bhakra Dam, had declined from 9,868 million cubic metres (MCM) to approximately 7,300 MCM, representing a reduction of about 26%.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Desilting could therefore serve a dual purpose: restoring reservoir storage capacity and supplying part of the construction sector&#8217;s demand for sand.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the CEC cautioned that total accumulated sediment cannot be treated as entirely recoverable or commercially usable sand. Its technical recoverability and environmental acceptability require assessment.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Digital Monitoring and Traceability<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To improve regulation and curb illegal extraction, the CEC recommended a digital monitoring system covering:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mining permissions and permitted quantities<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Actual mineral extraction<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Electronic transit permits<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">End-use of extracted material<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secure electronic transit permits should incorporate unique QR codes, barcodes or RFID-based identification to improve traceability of mineral movement.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Challenges in Implementing the Recommendations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Limited national data:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There is no consolidated and reliable national database quantifying the volume or value of illegally extracted river sand.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Uncertain reservoir potential:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The usable quantity of construction-grade sand available in reservoirs has not been adequately assessed at the national level.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Centre-State coordination:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Sand, classified as a minor mineral, and water are State subjects. Implementation will require coordination between the Union Government and State Governments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Construction demand:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Alternative sources must be developed without disrupting legitimate construction requirements.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CEC also highlighted an earlier 2020 report on Rajasthan, which found that legal sand collection declined from approximately 57 million tonnes annually to 5 million tonnes after mining restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court. The report identified the resulting supply gap as a major driver of illegal mining.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CEC&#8217;s recommendations seek to shift India&#8217;s approach from restricting illegal river sand mining towards developing sustainable alternatives and improving mineral traceability.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reservoir desilting, M-sand and recycled construction waste could reduce pressure on river ecosystems while supporting construction demand.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their implementation will depend on scientific assessments, environmental safeguards and effective Centre-State coordination.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/legal-news\/supreme-court-river-sand-mining-dam-desilting-10958216\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Understand the proposed phaseout of unsustainable river sand mining, reservoir desilting, alternative construction materials and digital monitoring measures in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":132601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,11425,22,59],"class_list":["post-132595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-mains-articles","tag-river-sand-mining","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132607,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132595\/revisions\/132607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}