The president of the A’chik Progressive Approach (APA), Francis Marak, has written to the District Forest and Environment Officer, Simsanggre Forest Range, East Garo Hills to complain about a case of allegedly illegal sand mining.
Marak said that a private company has been removing sand from the Simsang River without a mining lease.
“It is a threat to the people of Garo Hills that, in spite of the warning of rapid climate change, these days people of Garo Hills are witnessing day after day streams drying up and scarcity of drinking and washing water,” he said.
Marak called the company “merciless” for “ruining the heart of Garo Hills”, referring to the Simsang.
The same company was warned by the APA when it was extracting sand from the Bangon stream. The company is reportedly using the sand for construction work it has been awarded the contracts for.
Marak also said that the people of Chokpot had also complained of sand mining by the same company, which he also accused of building poor quality roads.
Marak called on the forest official to seize the company’s machinery, stop the sand mining, evict the company from the area, take legal action against it and blacklist it from doing business in Garo Hills again.
