Centre asks Assam to probe alleged soil mining from Dikhow near Nazira

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has asked the Assam government to inquire into alleged soil mining from the Dikhow river near Nazira in Sivasagar district and act in line with the law, The Sentinel reported on Monday.

The ministry's letter was written by Charan Jeet Singh, Scientist 'E', to the Special Chief Secretary of Assam's Department of Forest and Environment. It also directs the state forest department to inform the complainant of the inquiry report and of any action taken.

The complaint

The complaint was filed by Diganta Saikia, president of the Amguri Nabanirman Samitee (ANS). The group had written to the Prime Minister seeking a case against contractors and government officials over what it called illegal soil extraction from the river near Nazira town.

ANS alleges the digging has gone on since 2021 to supply soil for embankments being built under the Mukhyamantri Mathauri Pakikaran Achani, the state scheme for strengthening embankments. According to the complaint, the projects are being carried out by the Nazira Territorial Road Division on stretches from Sundarpukhuri to Upper Nazira and from Upper Nazira to the A.T. Road.

The group said earlier complaints on the same issue had gone without action by the state government, and it attached photographs of embankments it said had been damaged by floods.

The allegations have not been tested by any inquiry so far, and neither the road division nor the state forest department has publicly responded.

Why river soil mining matters

Digging soil and sand from a riverbed or its banks can change how a river flows, deepen or widen channels, and weaken the very banks and embankments it is meant to protect. The Dikhow, a south-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra that rises in Nagaland and flows through Nazira and Sivasagar town, floods regularly, and residents along it have long raised concerns about erosion.

A second Centre directive on the Dikhow

This is the second time in recent weeks the Centre has asked for action on the river. In late October, the environment ministry told authorities in Assam and Nagaland to examine alleged damage in the Dikhow's upper catchment, including coal mining, unregulated extraction of sand and boulders, and hill-cutting, after Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi raised the issue.

The new letter is narrower. It deals with soil extraction in Assam's stretch of the river near Nazira and puts the onus on the state's forest and environment department to investigate and report back to the complainant.