{"id":20121503,"date":"2023-09-22T20:44:15","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T15:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=121503"},"modified":"2023-10-04T17:06:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T11:36:35","slug":"flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When a spike of rainfall hit the Indian state of Uttarakhand from early July to late August 2023, the town of Kotdwar experienced a series of disasters. Four rivers \u2013 the Khoh, Sukhro, Malan and Paniyali \u00ad\u2013 flow through the town. As the rivers flooded, a bridge over the Malan collapsed<\/a> on 13 July, as did a bridge over the Paniyali on 28 July. Then on 8 August, the approach road to the bridge over the Khoh broke apart. Many houses, small bridges, roads, and security walls were damaged as the rivers surged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the state of Uttarakhand, almost 100 people were killed in disasters between 15 June and 15 September, with 1,100 landslides recorded<\/a> in the state in 2023 so far \u2013 the highest in eight years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dharamveer Prajapati, a resident of Kotdwar, stands in front of a house that was half washed away in the floods. \u201cThere was a cloudburst<\/a> on 8 August and again on 13 August. The water moved forward destroying everything that came its way,\u201c he says, pointing to the Khoh River. \u201cAt least 40-45 houses were destroyed. Now, it doesn’t seem as if any house existed here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
People left homeless by the flooding and erosion in the Kashirampur Talla Basti area of Kotdwar have set up temporary plastic shelters along the road (Images: Varsha Singh)<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Role of illegal sand mining highlighted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Part of the reason for the significant destruction seen in Kotdwar was the record rainfall<\/a> which drove the rivers to flood. But Uttarakhand\u2019s rivers have long been plagued by illegal sand mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, a video<\/a> went viral<\/a> in which Ritu Khanduri Bhushan, speaker and representative for Kotdwar in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, criticised a senior state bureaucrat over ignoring the condition of bridges, and went on to mention khanan <\/em>[mining] in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mining of sand and boulders from river beds, mostly for production of cement, has the effect of the deepening the river channel and increasing the speed<\/a> of water flowing through it. This increased flow can lead to more erosion of river banks, and more damage to structures in floods. In 2012, after a case<\/a> was heard in India\u2019s Supreme Court against the destructive effects of sand mining in the country\u2019s rivers, the Ministry of Mines framed guidelines<\/a> for sand mining. Recent reporting<\/a> reveals that the state of Uttarakhand has lobbied for loosening such restrictions over the last few years, and ignored the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government agencies […] collectively failed to prevent and detect illegal mining<\/blockquote>2022 report by India’s Comptroller and Auditor General<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to The Third Pole, Bhushan says: \u201cWe have continuously raised the issue of illegal mining in Kotdwar. Uncontrolled mining was carried out in Malan, Sukhro and River Khoh. Mining should happen in rivers but we have to understand the way we are doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Prajapati, illegal mining takes place in the Khoh in the day and at night. \u201cDue to mining, small and big bridges broke at many places. Bridges on River Sukhro and River Malan were also damaged due to the same reason,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August, the Uttarakhand High Court ordered<\/a> a stop to mining activities in the Malan, Sukhro and Khoh rivers in Kotdwar, while hearing a public interest litigation case regarding bridge breakages due to illegal mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/div>
This bridge over the Malan River collapsed on 13 July 2023 during flooding of the river (Image: Varsha Singh)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Government\u2019s own reports cite problems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A 2015 environmental assessment report<\/a> on sand mining in the Malan by the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation, a state government body, specifically mentioned erosion and floods as outcomes of irregular sand mining in the river basin. While there are supposed to be rules in place pertaining to river dredging<\/a> and river training<\/a>, these have been flouted, according to Mujeeb Naithani, a right to information (RTI) activist based in Kotdwar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to The Third Pole, he says: \u201cUnder the garb of river training, we see illegal mining happening here. In Kotdwar, initially, the banks of the river were weakened by digging. At some places in the river, excavation was done to a depth of 6 metres [when it is only allowed up to 3 metres]. If there was river training, the water would have moved straight ahead and it would have taken a lot of time to [erode] one-fourth of the river banks. But there were no shores left. That is why erosion took place up till houses and other infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/div>
This letter from 2020, written by the assistant Engineer of the Uttarakhand Irrigation Department, mentions complaints of illegal mining in Kotdwar (Image: Varsha Singh)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mujeeb shared copies of letters written by the Uttarakhand Irrigation Department in 2020 in which illegal mining is confirmed to be occurring in Kotdwar\u2019s rivers, and the risk of security walls around the river being breached during the rainy season is also noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Uttarakhand, the problem of illegal sand mining is not restricted to Kodtwar. A damning report<\/a> on illegal sand mining by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) was tabled in the Uttarakhand Assembly this year. It states bluntly that, \u201cAll Government agencies like Geology and Mining Unit, District Collector, Police Department, Forest Department and Project proponent and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd. collectively failed to prevent and detect illegal mining.\u201d It added that the government of Uttarakhand had \u201cfailed to implement Government of India\u2019s initiative called Mining Surveillance System for over five years,\u201d and that the state government had itself used 3.7 million tonnes of \u201cillegal mined material\u201d in the state capital, Dehradun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kulbhushan Upmanyu, an environmentalist and president of civil society organisation Himalaya Niti Abhiyan<\/a> says: \u201cIllegal sand mining is a major issue, not only in the plains but also in the rivers in the hilly areas of the Himalayan states. We do not see tractors being used in farming in the mountains but tractors keep roaming on the banks of rivers for mining. This has become a lucrative business because there is no investment in [dealing with] it. The government also does not take any strict actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Damaged<\/div>
The approach road to the bridge over the Khoh River in Kodtwar was damaged in floods on 8 August 2023 (Image: Varsha Singh)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The CAG report tabled in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly points out that many fines for illegal activity have simply not been collected. \u201cThe [Industrial Development] Department, therefore, suffered revenue loss of INR 1.24 crore due to not imposing the required penalty on illegal mining\/storage,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sand mining and destructive floods in Himachal Pradesh<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh was even worse hit than Uttarakhand in recent floods. The state government has estimated the damage caused by catastrophic rainfall between 24 June and 31 August 2023 at INR 120 billion<\/a> (USD 1.44 billion), with more than 360 people killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased water levels in the Beas River caused floods in Kullu, Mandi, Hamirpur districts in Himachal Pradesh, and downstream in the neighbouring state of Punjab. There have been complaints of illegal mining in the Beas<\/a> which leading the river to change its course, causing floods. Nearly 12,000 villages in 20 districts across Punjab and 65 lives were lost in the floods. Authorities have largely focused on encroachment<\/a> on the riverbed as the main reason for the scale of the disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vikramaditya Singh, minister of public works in the Himachal Pradesh state government, tells The Third Pole: \u201cAlong with heavy rains in the state, the condition of the rivers also deteriorated due to illegal mining. This is also an important reason for the suffered loss. The erosion increased because the banks were damaged and the river changed its course. Taking a lesson from these incidents, on August 23, we have stopped all the stone crushers running on Beas and its tributaries. We will also take similar action against crushers operating on other rivers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

Anil Kumar, an expert in riverine processes, paleo hydrology and sedimentology at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, saw the floods in the Beas River in person in August. He says that floods reached a height of 8-9 metres near Pandoh Dam in Mandi District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDue to mining, huge pits are often formed in the riverbed. When suddenly strong waves of water arrive, the flow is obstructed, resulting into an accumulation of energy,\u201d Kumar tells The Third Pole. \u201cAt that mining point, the river changes the direction of flow. This is when erosion takes place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kumar says more research is needed into the effects of sand mining on Himalayan rivers<\/a>. But so far, the problem looks set to continue. In late August in Kodtwar, tractors were still queuing along the broken approach road to the bridge, with boulders brought from the river lying next to them. Mules, used to transport the mined material away, were standing nearby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh suffered severe damage from floods this monsoon, which has highlighted the effects of illegal sand mining in their river basins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20000283,"featured_media":20121611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50039903],"tags":[543,566,50040325],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000111],"class_list":["post-20121503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water","tag-extreme-weather","tag-mining","tag-river-basins","country-india"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recent floods in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have highlighted the effects of illegal sand mining in their river basins\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh suffered severe damage from floods this monsoon, which has highlighted the effects of illegal sand mining in their river basins\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-22T15:14:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-04T11:36:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"676\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joe Coroneo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joe Coroneo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/41b5fa6bbd3a5a4f009440478f4f316f\"},\"headline\":\"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-22T15:14:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-04T11:36:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/\"},\"wordCount\":1446,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Extreme weather\",\"Mining\",\"River basins\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Water\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/\",\"name\":\"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-22T15:14:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-04T11:36:35+00:00\",\"description\":\"Recent floods in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have highlighted the effects of illegal sand mining in their river basins\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":676,\"caption\":\"Half collapsed blue building next to river\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/41b5fa6bbd3a5a4f009440478f4f316f\",\"name\":\"Joe Coroneo\",\"description\":\"Joe Coroneo-Seaman is the Production Assistant at The Third Pole. He has lived and worked in Greater China for 2 years, and has an MA (Hons) in Chinese and French from the University of Edinburgh.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/joecoroneo\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/varshasingh\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India","description":"Recent floods in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have highlighted the effects of illegal sand mining in their river basins","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India","og_description":"The states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh suffered severe damage from floods this monsoon, which has highlighted the effects of illegal sand mining in their river basins","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2023-09-22T15:14:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-04T11:36:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":676,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joe Coroneo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/"},"author":{"name":"Joe Coroneo","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/41b5fa6bbd3a5a4f009440478f4f316f"},"headline":"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India","datePublished":"2023-09-22T15:14:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-04T11:36:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/"},"wordCount":1446,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg","keywords":["Extreme weather","Mining","River basins"],"articleSection":["Water"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/","name":"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-22T15:14:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-04T11:36:35+00:00","description":"Recent floods in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have highlighted the effects of illegal sand mining in their river basins","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230828_Northern-India-sand-mining-floods-collapsed-house_VarshaSingh-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":676,"caption":"Half collapsed blue building next to river"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/flood-damage-highlights-uncontrolled-sand-mining-northern-india\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Flood damage highlights \u2018uncontrolled\u2019 sand mining in northern India"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/41b5fa6bbd3a5a4f009440478f4f316f","name":"Joe Coroneo","description":"Joe Coroneo-Seaman is the Production Assistant at The Third Pole. He has lived and worked in Greater China for 2 years, and has an MA (Hons) in Chinese and French from the University of Edinburgh.","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/joecoroneo\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/varshasingh\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20121503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20000283"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20121503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20121503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20121611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20121503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20121503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20121503"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=20121503"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=20121503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}