A long judicial stay on the sand mining has caused an increase in the cases of illegal sand mining and has also increased the rates of sand in the market. The police had registered many cases of illegal sand mining and seized loaded trucks and trolleys.
To check the illegal sand mining, the state government and later the High Court had imposed a ban on sand mining over an year ago. However, sometime ago, the High Court had removed the ban, but due to the lack of environmental clearance from the concerned departments, most of the mining sites were lying without auction. During this period, illegal sand mining was encouraged in the Ghaggar river and some other small rivers in this area. On the other hand, customers are bound to purchase sand at higher rates for construction works.