Coastal sand mining, whether legal or illegal, poses one of the biggest threats to our environment.…

Question

Coastal sand mining, whether legal or illegal, poses one of the biggest threats to our environment. Analyze the impact of sand mining along the Indian coasts, citing specific examples.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Coastal sand mining, legal or illegal, erodes beaches, flattens protective dunes, salinises aquifers and destroys fisher livelihoods, while illegal mineral trade cheats the exchequer. At Alappad in Kerala's Kollam district, mineral sand mining has eaten away much of the land, sparking the Save Alappad campaign of 2018-19.

**Introduction**

UNEP's Sand and Sustainability report (2019) ranks sand second only to water among the resources the world uses. India's beaches are mined for construction sand and for ilmenite, garnet and monazite, and legal or not, extraction strips the coast of its natural defence.

**Ecological Impact Along Indian Coasts**

SKETCH: flow | Sand Mining Damage Chain
- Sand removed
- Sediment deficit
- Beach erosion
- Saline intrusion
- Livelihood loss

1. **Coastal erosion**: At Alappad in Kerala's Kollam district, decades of mineral sand mining have eaten away much of the land between sea and backwater, sparking the Save Alappad campaign of 2018-19.
2. **Dunes and aquifers**: Dunes buffered Tamil Nadu villages during the 2004 tsunami, and once mined, seawater enters aquifers and fields, as in the garnet belts of Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli.
3. **Habitat damage**: Turtle nesting beaches, intertidal fauna and estuarine fish nurseries are lost to digging and turbidity, weakening the food web that coastal fisheries depend on.

**Socio-economic and Governance Impact**

1. **Livelihoods**: Fishers lose landing beaches and catch as erosion advances, which has driven village resistance to mining in Kanyakumari.
2. **Illegal trade**: The Gagandeep Singh Bedi committee set up after Tamil Nadu halted beach mineral mining in 2013, exposed large-scale illegal extraction, while thorium-bearing monazite raised radiation and strategic concerns.
3. **Regulation**: Deepak Kumar (2012) required clearance even for small leases, CRZ 2019 bars coastal sand mining except for rare minerals, and the 2020 enforcement guidelines mandate drone and GPS tracking.

**Conclusion**

Coastal sand mining trades a one-time gain for permanent loss of beaches, groundwater and livelihoods; sediment budgets, strict CRZ enforcement and manufactured sand can keep India's coasts resilient.

Coastal sand mining, whether legal or illegal, poses one of the biggest threats to our environment. Analyze the impact of sand mining along the Indian coasts, citing specific examples.

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