Let’s just call System as corrupt

                                 
I don’t care about environment, you don’t care about environment, but when someone else doesn’t care about environment we all start caring about it.  We are such hypocrites; we always search for one or the other issue to condemn. We have this strange internet spree in us; we don’t read from authentic sources, we rely greatly on some random facebook article or SMS. We are so desperate and busy to lather our intellectualism on people that we often forget to vote. And when we vote we vote our caste. We are hypocrites because we all stare at that women on street but we will login to our twitter account and will shout so aimlessly and vacuously “Hang these rapists”. I was listening to this video by some IITian turned standup comedian and he was so proudly explaining the fact that IITians don’t rape, they just imagine the whole scenario in their mind. I don’t know whether it’s right or not, but voyeurism, stalking, are the first steps of becoming rapist.
So why this hypocrisy lesson, this is because India’s infrastructure needs are increasing, we all need houses and we all need sand. But we don’t need sand mafias. Why? Because they are bad people they bribe government and they “illegally” mine sand and are harming environment.  Bribe is such an infernal crime until someone else is involved in it.  You know,“I am okay, you are okay, but the system is corrupt.” 




I don’t care about environment on a normal day, but I need fuel for my twitter account. So until another scam I have to be with you. “Illegal” word is problem for the whole system because once in a while we get people in the system who are honest, care about country more than their pockets and wife’s jewelry, they make laws against these parts of the system. So there are laws against the sand mafias.
“ MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) saw through the game and set up an expert committee in 2009 of officials from the Ministry of Environment, as well as Mines and a number of State governments to look into the environmental aspects of mining of minor minerals. The said committee in its report in 2010 recommended: a) minimum size of mining lease to be 5 ha; b) minimum lease period of 5 years for an eco-friendly, scientific and sustainable mining; c) cluster approach to mining of small sizes; d) mining depth to not exceed 3 m or the water table whichever is higher; e) safety or no mining zone within the river bed which should not be less than 10 per cent of the rivers width and a minimum distance from bridges and embankments, and f) provision of a mining plan that should include reclamation and rehabilitation of the mined out areas.The above recommendations of the MoEF expert committee were endorsed by the Supreme Court (SC) through its order dated February 27, 2012 in a Public Interest Litigation. And most recently on August 5, 2013 the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has further reinforced the order of the Supreme Court.” So now what to do? Let’s close down construction of all buildings, highways, bridges, let’s shut it all and save sand. Can we afford it? We need alternatives. Ravinder gupta, IIT Madras professor proposes three ways to do it:-
1)      M-sand is the most promising alternative. Substitutes such as crushed glass or recycled copper slag are right now in an experimental stage, he says. “M-sand is reliable, but the quality of supply needs to be monitored and regulated.2)      Other way to reduce the need for sand is to recycle construction and demolition waste. About 10 to 12 million tonnes of construction waste is generated annually, and only a portion of it is reused. The Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, require construction debris to be separated, but it is often mixed with other waste and discarded. Bricks and concrete could be crushed for aggregates. In countries including Australia, concrete and brickwork are reused to lay roads. Discarded gypsum is recycled into gypsum board.
3)       Third way to reduce demand on construction material,” says Professor Gettu. “Most of the structures are designed for strength and not durability. As a result, structures are not used for a long period. By building more durable structures that have extended life, consumption of materials could be reduced.
Now till the time we substitute the whole sand with alternatives, we are trapped in a vicious feedback loop.  If we look from a larger perspective, we will observe that when everyone is busy earning money and no one wants to think about ecology.  Then sand mafia is doing nothing wrong.  Even IAS officers who are trying to stop are also doing their duty. But the system has intricacies and larger picture says one thing that we are about to be doomed. We don’t have to care about IAS officers, we don’t have to care about sand mafias. We have mucked up rivers and we will deplete the nature despite the several warning. One or two IAS cannot stand the whole country because we may shout to be on their side of the court but we are actually nurturing and supporting the other side. Ignorance is bliss.                   

References:- 1)      http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/looking-at-substitutes/article5010520.ece2)      http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/drawing-a-line-on-sand/article5007289.ece