மணல் திருட்டு

தமிழகத்தில் சூறையாடப்படும் இயற்கையின் அருட்கொடையான மணலை கப்பலில் ஏற்றி வெளிநாடுகளுக்கு குறிப்பாக அரபு நாடுகளுக்கு செல்வதாக செய்திகள் வந்துள்ளன. நேற்றைய (13-09-2017) டைம்ஸ் ஆப் இந்தியா இதழில் அரபு நாடுகள் மணலை எங்கிருந்து பெறுகின்றது என்பதையும் மணல் பற்றியான செய்திப்படக் கட்டுரை வெளியாகியுள்ளது. ஆனால் இந்த செய்திக் கட்டுரையில் தமிழகத்தில் இருந்து கபளீகரம் செய்யப்படும் மணல் லட்சத்தீவு வழியாக அரபு நாடுகளுக்கு அனுப்பப்படுகின்றன என்று செய்திகள் கசிந்தாலும் குறிப்பிடாதது ஏன் என்று தெரியவில்லை.

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கே.எஸ்.இராதாகிருஷ்ணன்

13-09-2017

Why even Arab nations are buying sand

NEW DELHI: You wouldn't think it could ever run short but it turns out that like many other resources, humans are consuming sand faster than the earth's capacity to replenish stocks. The frenzy of building that has accompanied rising populations across the globe has fuelled indiscriminate mining, spelling danger for the environment. Here is all you need to know about use of sand and its indiscriminate mining.

 

WHY CAN'T WE TAKE IT FROM THE DESERTS?

1. Sand used for construction comes mainly from riverbeds and oceans
 

2. If you wonder why we can't simply lift it from the deserts, it is because desert sand is too smooth for construction
 

WHY SAND IS IMPORTANT: SECOND ONLY TO WATER

1. All the major building materials — concrete, bricks, glass — are made using sand
 

2. That makes sand the secondmost used natural commodity after water

3. Sand constitutes up to 85% by weight of everything mined globally each year, a 2014 UNEP report said

4. More than 40bn tons of sand and gravel used every year. Mining of sand is a $70 billion industry

SO EVEN ARABS ARE BUYING SAND
 

1. Dubai now imports sand from Australia, because it has exhausted its marine sand supply
 

2. BBC says UAE imported $456m worth of sand, stone and gravel in 2014
 

WHY UNBRIDLED SAND MINING IS DANGEROUS
 

1. Sand acts as an aquifer and natural carpet at the bottom of the river
 

2. Stripping this layer leads to downstream erosion, changes in channel bed, deepening of rivers, etc.
 

3. Local groundwater is affected, causing water scarcities that threaten agriculture

4. It also creates habitat and ecological problems

SAND MINING IS A GLOBAL THREAT NOW
 

1. China's biggest freshwater lake — Poyang Lake — is drying up due to sand dredging

2. In Kenya, sand dredging from the riverbeds of poor rural counties is leaving communities without access to water
 

3. Beaches in Morocco and the Caribbean have been stripped of sand, making them vulnerable during rough weather

WHAT IS AT RISK IN INDIA

Major rivers in Kerala such as the Pampa, Manimala, and Achankovil have faced significant degradation, leading to a sharp fall in ground water table levels

In eastern Uttar-Pradesh, mechanised sand mining in rivers like Chhoti Gandak, Gurra, Rapti and Ghaghara has resulted in soil erosion and turned thousands of acres of land infertile

Coastal sand mining destroys fisheries, disturbs coral, and has led to the near extinction of ghariyals, a crocodile species unique to India

Although regulations exist to limit sand mining, excessive demand has created a booming illegal sand mining sectorworth more than Rs 1,000 cr annually, says CSE

(Source: BBC; Centre for Science and Environment; MoEF)