Illegal sand extraction mars beauty of Pampore’s ‘island’

PULWAMA — In the absence of any regulation and accountability, vested interest elements have defaced the once beautiful lookalike island in southern Kashmir’s saffron town Pampore.

Despite the ban on mining, the vested interest elements are busy extracting sand and eroding soil on the banks of river Jehlum in Pampore.

Some locals, while speaking to the news agency Kashmir News Trust, said that there is a mafia that is controlling this sand extraction trade. They said some people own 20 to 30 boats to extract the sand. They said they have repeatedly raised the matter with the concerned officials but nothing changed on the ground.

The Geology and Mining Department has failed to initiate any action against these vested interest elements.

The locals said that Jammu and Kashmir Bank had once announced to set up a park on this ‘island’ for the general public, but now this land has been defaced by these vested interest elements.

They appealed to authorities to look into the matter and take action against those involved in illegal sand extraction.