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Plea for troops to carry fight to illegal sand miners
Illegal sand miners desecrating riverbanks and beaches might soon be facing tougher custodians of the environment if the government throws the armed services into the fight against them.
Batticaloa: Protests against illegal mining that was causing cave-ins on farmland and consequent flooding, and local roads being damaged by heavy trucks carrying sand. Pix by Athiran
The mines bureau will ask the Defence Ministry to send in the navy, air force and the Special Task Force to assist in raids against gangs taking advantage of a suspension of sand transport permits.
The government suspended the requirement for permits in a bid to break down mafia control of the building materials sector but the measure has encouraged illegal mining by groups that are now able to transport any amount of sand without being checked by police for transport permits.
Geological Survey and Mines Bureau Senior Director Udaya de Silva said the bureau was struggling with its limited number of enforcement officers to investigate illegal mining.
The enforcement unit consists of only seven to eight officers in head office and some 50 field officers to monitor operations all over the country.
Mr. de Silva wants air support to locate illegal sand mining areas and the navy to intercept and stop unregulated mining in rivers.
Previously, he said, illegal sand mining was curbed through the monitoring of transport permits. Police stopping trucks to check permits were also able to make sure loads did not exceed permissible limits and also that miners had a mining permit – both a mining permit and a transport permit was required.
Mr. de Silva said the government now intended to check illegal mining by raiding mining sites to see if those operations were lawful.
This stance has run into strong opposition by environmental activist Ven. Pahiyangala Ananada Sagara Thera, head of the Protect Sri Lanka organisation, who said the suspension of the sand transport ban had led to an explosion of illegal mining activity.
He said environmentalists would take the government to court in January if the transport permits were not reinstituted.
Ven. Sagara Thera said illegal mining had begun in areas such as Ampara, Kilinochchi, Batticaloa and in the Mahaweli, Kelani and Nilwala rivers. 
He pointed out that mining riverbeds would cause seawater to enter the river system, causing environmental disaster. Cultivation and drinking water supplies would be affected when salty water entered irrigation tanks.
Ven. Sagara Thera said part of the government’s reasons for suspending the transport permit requirement – to prevent mafia from using bribery to obtain permits – could have been achieved by targeting bribe-taking by government officials involved in the sector rather than by dropping the need for permits.
“Powerful politicians and influential people are behind illegal sand mining. They used the cancellation of the permit to quickly begin transporting illegally-mined sand,” Ven. Sagara Thera said.
In Batticaloa this week, protests were held over illegal mining in the Sittandy area.
Crowds carrying placards and banners saying “Stop illegal sand mining, don’t rob our natural resources” gathered on Tuesday to demand that the Chenkalady Divisional Secretary take action.
They complained that illegal mining was causing cave-ins on their farmland and consequent flooding, and that local roads were being damaged by heavy trucks carrying sand.
In 2015, the Chenkalady Divisional Secretary banned the mining and transport of sand in Sittandy but the transport licence suspension has effectively ended the ban on carrying sand and so groups have begun mining and hauling the valuable building material in large quantities.
Protesters complained that neither the local government authorities nor police were taking action against the miners.
A senior police official of the area said his officers were aware of illegal sand transport out of Sandanmadu in the Sittandy area but could not take action as there was no mechanism other than transport permits to monitor and regulate transport of sand.
Reports from Dambulla say sand mining in that area has been halted by heavy rains that have inundated mining areas.