Scarred by sand: Rivers, farms, future under strain from mining

The unchecked, illegal trade in the critical resource that powers the construction industry has ravaged rivers, devastated villages, and drained the public exchequer

Eight months ago, Sanjay Kamble, a farmer from Sambaragi village near Belagavi, was guiding his bullock cart across the shallow Savala stream when the cart suddenly plunged into a crater in the middle of the riverbed. His three sons were also with him. A week earlier, illegal sand miners had dug a 20-foot-deep pit there but the waters had concealed it. “I failed to notice the pit created by sand mining and drove over it. Within seconds my two sons, aged seven and nine, fell into the pit and were washed away. I could save only my 11-year-old son,” says Kamble.

It is still unclear who dug the pit on the riverbed, where sand mining is strictly prohibited.  The family lives in constant fear that such a tragedy could happen again if indiscriminate sand extraction continues.

Shivappa Hadapad, a farmer near Hungund in the neighbouring Bagalkot district, is reluctant to lease his two acres next to Hirehalla for sand mining. But he feels pressured to give in, as influential people have already leased land from his neighbours.  

“Even if I refuse, they will still dig into my land. If I agree, at least I get paid,” he says. Once miners extract the sand, his land remains unusable for the next three monsoons or until the topsoil settles. In many cases, deep mining leaves the land permanently infertile.

In districts like Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Koppal and Yadgir, there is a growing trend of farmers being lured or pressured into turning their fertile fields on the riverbanks and streams into ‘sand points’. 

By removing just a few feet of topsoil, miners can access tonnes of sand deposits accumulated over centuries from these lands next to streams and rivers. 

On paper, sand miners claim to extract sand only from farmers’ patta land after paying royalty. In most cases, however, illegal mining spreads to neighbouring lands or, worse, into streams and riverbeds. Another concern for farmers is that miners rarely follow the rules of digging just five metres. At several sand points DH visited, pits were found to be 18-25 feet deep.

“During the peak season (right after monsoon) the sand miners were transporting nearly 200 to 300 tippers of sand per day from each acre of my land. Today, they transport 10-15 tippers of sand during the night from an acre,” he says. 

Sridhar Dastari, a farmer from Kithali village on Malaprabha bank near Badami, says the miners  breach the banks of the river to flood fields after monsoon. “They divert the river water into the fields so the river deposits sand here and also helps remove impurities,” he says. Sridhar says such lands become unsuitable for cultivation afterwards. “Once the lease ends, miners are supposed to refill the top soil, but extraction leaves deep pits, making cultivation difficult,” he says.

Illegal sand mining is common along the basins of the Krishna, Tungabhadra, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Bhima, Vedavati, Netravati, Panchagangavali, Sita, Hemavati and Kaveri rivers. It also occurs on numerous streams across 18 districts. It has a cascading impact on revenue, livelihoods and the environment in these regions. 

The United Nations Environment Programme identifies natural sand as the second most important and exploited natural resource after water.

Sources in the Mines and Geology department told DH that on an average Karnataka requires nearly 75 lakh metric tonnes to one crore metric tonnes of sand per year for its construction industry. On average, the state produces about 5 lakh metric tonnes of natural sand legally, while another 45 lakh metric tonnes comes from the 900-odd units of manufactured sand (M-sand). The deficit of 25 lakh metric tonnes, which is the root cause of the problem, is primarily fulfilled by the illegal sand mafia.

Every year, based on the availability of sand on the banks of rivers, the Sand Monitoring Committee opens sand blocks across the state. These blocks are specific locations identified by the committee (based on sand accumulation) from which licensed sand miners are authorised to extract sand. According to the department, there are over 650 sand blocks across Karnataka and for 2025-26, the department had called tenders for 338 sand blocks on the banks of rivers and streams. Despite these regulatory efforts, illegal extraction continues to flourish.

Experts warn that over-exploitation of sand could lead to severe social and economic consequences, such as altering the natural flow of rivers, increasing the risk of flooding during the monsoons and reduced groundwater recharge in surrounding areas, impacting water availability for drinking and agriculture. A study by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru found that excessive sand mining had caused a 64% depletion of groundwater in Kolar.

Home Minister G Parameshwara’s recent statement in the Legislative Assembly highlighted the seriousness of the situation. He says, “Big people from all parties are involved in illegal sand extraction. Illegal sand mining is a big racket. I am not giving any explanation or naming anyone, as it is a little embarrassing. I have given only a restricted answer, but it involves many influential people. I will call a meeting to discuss the issue." 

Experts and activists point out the impunity with which the sand mafia operates and the failure of successive governments to curb it. 

“Political patronage and the non-utilisation of powers by government officials to prevent the theft of natural resources are the main reasons why the sand mafia is still thriving in Karnataka,” says political activist Deepak.

By the government’s own admission in the Assembly in 2019, the state lost an estimated Rs 200 crore in revenue due to illegal sand mining.

On paper, the state government has formulated several rules and regulations to ensure that sand is available at affordable prices and that the gram panchayats where the sand originates benefit from these natural resources. The Karnataka Sub-Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules–2021, complement the New Sand Policy–2020, which aimed to regulate sand mining and distribution in a more accessible, affordable and transparent manner. The policy also empowered gram panchayats to issue extraction licenses and receive a royalty of Rs 300 to Rs 400 per tonne. However, licensed sand miners claim that the government has made the process of obtaining permission for legal extraction and transport so complicated that it is practically difficult to earn a profit through legal mining.

A Chitradurga-based licensed sand miner, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that one must obtain a no-objection certificate from at least six departments. A total of 13 departments, including Mines and Geology, Revenue, Forest, and Police, which can monitor sand extraction and transport. “You have to keep all the officials and local MLAs ‘happy’ just to carry out sand mining, even in licenced blocks,” he claimed. 

He added that if a tonne of sand is sold for Rs 1,500, nearly 85 per cent of the revenue goes towards royalty, permits, government fees, labour, transport, land lease and other expenses.

“In illegal mining, one needs to appease only a few officials and elected representatives, and the profit margin can be as high as 60 per cent,” he added. Officially, a tractor load of three tonnes of sand should be sold for Rs 5,265; however, people are forced to pay around Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 to procure the same sand from the grey market.

Taking cognisance of the situation, the Karnataka High Court, recently, took up a suo motu case on illegal sand extraction, and the Lokayukta conducted raids at multiple locations across the state. Following this, a majority of the illegal sand-mining sites have become non-operational. However, many villagers say the activities usually resume once the issue dies down. 

No tab on sand mining

Between 2020-21 and December 2025, the Mines and Geology department registered 1,511 cases of illegal sand mining and collected Rs 48.5 crore fines from violators. Each year, the department also books an average of 2,900 cases of illegal sand transport and collects approximately Rs 71 crore as penalty.  The total quantum of illegal mining, however, cannot be accurately accessed as 12 other departments also conduct raids and penalise offenders. Multiple senior geologists in the department confirmed to DH that the official cases registered account for less than 5 per cent of the total illegal sand mining taking place in Karnataka. 

“We usually conduct raids after receiving a tip-off from a rival gang, and most of the time, the illegal extraction site is run by an influential person, who ensures that either no case is filed or only minor charges are imposed,” says a geologist from north Karnataka.

Mines and Geology Department Additional Director Mahantesh T says, “We have identified illegal sand mining activities in several parts of North Karnataka. However, there are many hurdles in manually estimating the quantity of sand extracted illegally. The depth of the pits formed in the riverbed and the volume of sand removed cannot be accurately measured by human observation alone. The exact scale of illegal sand mining can only be assessed using drone cameras or other sophisticated methods. We have submitted a proposal to higher authorities to conduct a comprehensive survey through the National Remote Sensing Agency,” he added. 

A Range Forest Officer in Vijayapura  still recalls the humiliation his team faced while trying to prevent illegal sand mining. “We were overpowered by goons at the Krishna River on the Belagavi-Vijayapura border. They were illegally extracting sand from a reserve forest area, and when we tried to stop them, they tied up my subordinates and snatched my service gun and belt,” he recounts about the incident in 2023. Eventually, he was transferred to another place. 

On June 1, 2023, a constable attached to Nelogi Police Station in Kalaburagi’s Narayanpur village lost his life after a tractor driver, allegedly transporting illegal sand, ran him over. In Raichur’s Cheekalaparvi village, a village accountant was run over by a truck driver in 2018 for asking to see a license for sand transport. 

The sand mafia poses a serious threat to local activists as well. Raichur-based activist Hanumanth Bhangi, who has been fighting illegal sand mining in the Krishna basin for years, says he has received repeated threats for filing public interest litigations against the trade. “Excessive sand mining has caused groundwater depletion and environmental degradation in the region. Despite several raids by officials, the mafia continues. I was even attacked by illegal sand miners when I tried to intervene,” he says.

H Sashidar Shetty of the National Environment Care Federation (NECF) which is leading a campaign against illegal sand mining in coastal Karnataka, says the practice is rampant along the banks of the Phalguni River and in Mulki taluk. “Around 75 per cent of sand mining on the coast is illegal. The Lokayukta, in a report, noted illegal sand mining at 39 locations across Bantwal, Belthangady and Mangaluru taluks. Yet, no comprehensive action has been implemented,” he says.

Ways of sand mining

Illegal sand mining occurs in multiple ways: licence holders often extract sand beyond their sanctioned limits, use banned heavy machinery, operate in prohibited areas such as CRZ zones, forest land, streams and riverbeds, transport sand without valid transit passes (including multiple uses of the same pass), evade royalty payments and most importantly, carry out excavation at night.

Gopi Krishna, a senior geologist in Raichur, says the government provides 25% of the royalty collected from a sand extraction block to the gram panchayat, which is responsible for repairing damaged roads. “Since March last year, we have imposed penalties totaling Rs 93 lakh for transporting sand without permits in Raichur district. Additionally, we have collected Rs 34 lakh in fines for not installing GPS in vehicles and transporting sand illegally as mandated by rules  during this period. The District Mineral Foundation, comprising district officials, has been working on local community welfare and environmental restoration in villages affected by sand mining,” he says.

Countering the officer, Mahadevamma, vice-president of Karkihalli Gram Panchayat, says that the Rs 2.20 crore royalty collected by the panchayat in 2025-26 has been distributed among the nine villages under its jurisdiction. “We cannot use our share of the royalty for road repairs, as that falls under the responsibility of the PWD and Zilla Panchayat. The amount is far too small for such work. Our top priority is to stop illegal sand mining and protect the health of local residents,” she says.

Experts warn that extracting river sand without a scientific assessment of the permissible annual extraction levels is risky. Excessive removal lowers riverbeds, reduced summer river flows and lowers local water tables. Deep mining can also alter river courses and destabilise banks, increasing erosion and the risk of flooding during heavy rains.

Scientist  M D Subhash Chandran, who has done extensive research on Sharavathi and Aghanashini rivers in Uttara Kannada, says sand-bed plays a very important role in maintaining river ecology. He explained that excessive sand extraction can cause mud to block the riverbed, reducing groundwater recharge in neighbouring areas. “Overexploitation of sand also increases the exposure of heavy metals into the river, resulting in health complications for both humans and aquatic life,” he warned.

“Illegal sand extraction through machines in the Aghanashini and Sharavathi has severely affected the production of edible bivalve and also the livelihoods of bivalve collectors,” says Diwakar Naik, a member of the Balachu (Bivalves) Sangrahakarara Sangha in Aghanashini. He says unregulated sand mining disrupts this fragile ecology.

A report titled Sand Mining and Its Impact on Agriculture and Groundwater Depletion in Karnataka, published in the International Research Journal of Agricultural Economics and Statistics (2014) found that illegal sand mining had significantly depleted groundwater in Kolar and surrounding areas. “The results indicate that the depth to water in borewells has fallen down from 550 feet to 900 feet (64 per cent), due to illegal sand mining,” the report stated.

Studies have also shown that over exploitation of sand has resulted in displacement of species and change in habitat. A study conducted by Kuvempu University’s Department of PG Studies and Research in Wildlife and Management on otters in Tungabhadra river showed that sand mining areas adversely impacted the lifecycle of otters as availability of food started depleting in the region. “An entire food chain is dependent on the presence of sand in rivers. If this is removed it could lead to difficulties in survival of species,” says Vijaya Kumar, Head of the Research centre at the University. 

Sand extraction is also threatening public infrastructure, including roads and bridges. Activists in Harihara warned that excessive sand mining in the Tungabhadra river is putting the bridge across the river at risk.

Residents of Karkihalli village in Raichur’s Devadurg taluk say that the daily movement of hundreds of sand-laden tippers has severely damaged the village mud road. “Because of the poor condition of the road, government bus drivers and conductors do not show interest to operate services to our village,” says Ramesh Balayya, a villager.  

(With inputs from Harsha in Mangaluru and S K Nrupathunga in Davangere)