World Environment Day Special; Bharathapuzha; A river which dried up due to excess removal of sand illegally

           For constructions purposes sand is used in a large scale. As construction field is kicking up, the demand for sand is increasing in an unprecedented scale. Price of sand has increased in such a way that selling of sand has become one of the most profitable business. So eventually many mafias have started smuggling sand in huge amounts for money. Removal of sand in large scale from rivers will cause many environmental problems like drying up of river, lowering of water table, scarcity of water etc. Authorities know about this issue but they are not taking any necessary actions preventing this. These mafias give bribes to responsible officers to influence them or prevent them from taking actions against smuggling of sand.
           Many rivers in South India have died up and many more are in the edge of death. "Bharathapuzha" is one of such rivers. Present condition of Bharathapuzha is depicted in the image above. Bharathapuzha has now dried up and literally we can walk through the river to cross it. Water from this river is used for irrigation purposes. Many towns and villages depend on this river for drinking water. As this river gets dried up, thousands of people suffer scarcity of water.
            Bharathapuzha is located in Kerala State(India). It is the longest river in Kerala. I am living in the bank of this river and i can see many many trucks carrying sand from this river daily. Even now, trucks are passing by smuggling sand.