Ground report: Is sand mining in Haryana affecting Yamuna levels in Delhi?

The UP resident and the workers at one of the companies also said the river remains more or less dry till the monsoon, when the water levels rise.

Bharadwaj had also referred to Google Earth images of bridges or bunds built across the river near these mining sites downstream of Tajewala — with one such site being in Memarpur — and said the flow of the river has been blocked by these structures.

While water from Haryana reaches Delhi mainly through two channels — the Carrier Line Channel and the Delhi Sub-Branch — some of it, around 120 cusecs or 60 MGD (million gallons per day), reaches Delhi through the river as well, according to Delhi Jal Board officials.

To understand the reality on the ground, The Indian Express visited the two villages last week.

To understand the reality on the ground, The Indian Express visited the two villages last week.

At Tikola, officials had recently stopped mining activity by one of the companies that operate along the stretch. When The Indian Express visited the spot Friday, some of the company’s workers, however, were still around, close to the rented, heavy machinery that is now idling. A large pile of sand lies close to where the workers sit, having been mined from the riverbed and adjoining land, and is stocked for sale.

As it flows, the river brings sediments with it — a veritable goldmine for mining companies in the area which sell the minerals for construction purposes. The sand is coarse, and the coarser it is, the better it is for construction, one of the workers said. The sand leaves the area for construction sites in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. While it is sold here at around Rs 10 per cubic foot, the price rises as it is transported.

One of the workers said the river has no water coming from further upstream, and that the water that is visible in the river is dirty, since it is mostly polluted water coming from Panipat.

Going by the environment clearances granted for riverbed mining in the Yamuna, work is permissible only up to a depth of three metres. Those associated with the company in Memarpur said digging beyond 10 or 12 feet on the riverbed can result in water rising to the surface.

The environment clearance granted to the company in Tikola in 2016 specified an annual production capacity of 14 lakh tonnes of sand on 40.85 hectares of land, with the mine lease area lying partly outside and partly on the riverbed. The clearance also mentions that mining is not permitted in the monsoon months, from July 1 to September 15.

Bridges of sand

Not far from where the workers sit, a bridge of sorts has been built across the river, connecting Uttar Pradesh on one side with Haryana on the other, and allowing a resident of Adarsh Nangla village in UP to cross the river on a two-wheeler to the other side.

The bridge, made of sand with cement bags to buttress it, was built around two months ago and is a temporary one for mining, the resident said. It has large pipes that run beneath it, and water flows from one side of the structure to the other through these pipes.

The UP resident and the workers at one of the companies also said the river remains more or less dry till the monsoon, when the water levels rise.

In a statement issued after Bharadwaj’s allegations, the Haryana government had mentioned these pipes. Sand mining is done legally in the Yamuna and temporary pipe crossings are provided so that there is no obstruction to the flow of the river, the government’s response had said.

Going by the environment clearances granted for riverbed mining in the Yamuna, work is permissible only up to a depth of three metres. Those associated with the company in Memarpur said digging beyond 10 or 12 feet on the riverbed can result in water rising to the surface.

The question of these temporary bridges is still being considered in the National Green Tribunal (NGT), though the Tribunal has recently ordered that no further permissions should be granted for such bridges.

Sonipat resident Vikas Kumar had sent a petition letter to the NGT last year alleging that a mining company is involved in illegal mining on the riverbed and has “diverted the course of the river by constructing an illegal bridge on river Yamuna”. Based on this, the NGT constituted a joint committee in September last year to verify the situation.

In November, an NGT order in the case raised the question of permissibility of construction of such temporary bridges across the river and their environmental impact on riverine ecology and obstruction or diversion of the river’s natural flow. The Tribunal had then asked for a copy of the policy framed by the Haryana government on the permissibility of constructing such temporary bridges.

In an order issued on February 23, the NGT said the presence of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Ministry of Jal Shakti is essential for a proper decision on the questions involved in the case, and had asked for the two ministries to be impleaded as respondents.

Applying the precautionary principle, the Tribunal then ordered that no further permission be granted for construction of any temporary bridge across the Yamuna for facilitating sand mining and allied activities. The case has been listed for consideration next week.

In January, the Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources Department submitted a report before the NGT which said that it had issued a policy in October 2021 which mentions mining agencies must apply to the department for these structures, and that these are to be dismantled by June 30. Three such approvals were sanctioned in Sonipat. A meeting chaired by the Haryana Chief Minister was held in August 2020, where it was decided that mining on the riverbed requires crossing over the river channel and that the Irrigation Department may undertake construction of structures required for crossing, the submission stated.

The Haryana government’s response after Bharadwaj’s allegations also said: “Haryana is delivering 1,050 cusecs of water to Delhi through CLC and Delhi Sub-Branch canals… pollution-free water is provided to Delhi. This canal water is taken from CLC through twin pipelines, directly to sumps in Wazirabad WTP for treatment… Sand mining is done legally in river Yamuna as per Haryana government mining policy only in non-monsoon season… Haryana is not obstructing any natural river flow and is providing pollution-free canal water to Delhi more than its legitimate entitlement.”

A sandy track leads from Tikola to Memarpur, where another mining company operates, trucks carrying sand from it. Unlike the one in Tikola, where mining was from the riverbed, the one in Memarpur mines sand mostly from land, measuring around 142 acres, around the river, according to those who co-own the land.

In 2015, the company participated in the auction for obtaining a mining contract for nine years. With the clearances required, they began mining a little later, they said. The stock is kept in the area and is sold to buyers at around Rs 10 to Rs 12 per cubic foot. District officials keep track of what is sold through a pass that the buyer’s truck carries, specifying how much has been sold. It is mined and sold as is, though it is often mixed with Badarpur sand later when it reaches Delhi for construction, those associated with the company said.

Virender Punia, Sonipat Regional Officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), said three companies are currently functioning in Sonipat. One of the companies at Tikola had stopped operations on the orders of officials in the mining department. For the bridges across the river, the companies seek permission from the Irrigation Department, he said.

The HSPCB checks for whether the companies are complying with the conditions of their environment clearance, he said, adding that it is up to the mining department to ensure that the companies only extract sand from specified areas and only at a certain depth.

The HSPCB issued a closure order to a unit operating in the Ganaur tehsil of Sonipat on Friday for failing to comply with conditions of environment clearance and for violations of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.

Going by the environment clearances granted for riverbed mining in the Yamuna, work is permissible only up to a depth of three metres. Those associated with the company in Memarpur said digging beyond 10 or 12 feet on the riverbed can result in water rising to the surface.

Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People said, “The basic issue when it comes to riverbed mining is governance. It should be legal mining, which means that only what is permitted should happen and there should be a credible mechanism to ensure that. The stakeholder who can ensure legal mining is the local community.”

On whether riverbed mining can have an impact on water downstream in Delhi, he said, “It can have an impact. To what extent it can be affected at different locations needs to be studied. The sand in the river plays an important role in sustaining the river’s flow and its biodiversity, ensuring groundwater recharge. When you remove that unsustainably and disturb the stream by creating bridges or embankments, the ecosystem will get destroyed. The MoEFCC guidelines say that miners cannot disturb the flowing stream.”

With a deficit in rainfall in February and so far in March as well across Northwest India, the river at Wazirabad remained at a level of 671.3 ft, lower than the normal of 674.5 ft, on Saturday, hitting production at the Wazirabad treatment plant for nearly three weeks now.

At 10 am on Sunday, the Wazirabad water treatment plant was producing 93 MGD (million gallons per day), below its capacity of 134.5 MGD. As temperatures rise and water shortage is felt in parts of the national capital, the Yamuna seems set to, once again, be at the centre of a fierce political debate.