/ 0
CACHAR “Operation save nature.”
By-Jyoti Lal Chowdhury
There has been frequent public outcry against illegal quarrying and mining of sand from the river system of Barak Valley. This has been going on for decades without any action by the forest officials concerned or the administration. The situation has come to such a pass that even the forests and its wealth have become the target of timber-mafias. The media, both print and electronic, has been highlighting with graphic details and photographs how the greenery and the illegal mining and quarrying go on daringly. Of the three districts in this valley, Cachar is richest in natural resources.
According to a forest official who wants to remain anonymous, 90% of the quarrying of stones and mining of sand has been illegal. People, both tribal and non tribal, have often dared to speak out against the mafias.
Recently, hundreds of people from the villages of Batertal, Gangapara and Angarjur under Rongpur GP town falling within the jurisdiction of Silchar Municipal Board, in a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar stated that sand mafias have created a sort of panic by their illegal quarrying from the riverbed.
According to the complaint, 20 to 25 trucks round the clock are engaged in digging sand and soil. In these illegal activities, the name of one person identified as Tapan Deb and his two accomplices, Junabali Barbhuiya and Chandmani Laskar, have been mentioned. This kind of rampant and daring quarrying is a gross violation of the forest rules and regulations and pose a serious threat to the standing embankments along the villages. If this kind of operation by mafias goes on, the 10,000 residents living by the bank of river Barak stand exposed to the scourges of floods.
