River sand and gravel are the bedding layer of the river bed, maintaining the stability of the river and the safety of the river and embankments. Illegal sand mining not only destroys river channels and pollutes river water, but also brings safety risks to the production and life of surrounding people. As early as 2014, Dingxi City, Gansu Province announced that it would “unconditionally shut down all unlicensed sand mining companies for rectification.”
However, more than two years have passed. A reporter recently conducted an investigation and interview in Dingxi City and found that many sand mining companies are still operating without licenses, and the phenomenon of illegal mining has rebounded. In some counties such as Anding District , illegal sand mining has Still rampant.
In the name of the project, sand and sand fields were used to compete with the villagers for ten years.
River sand resources are becoming less and less. Many sand quarries are digging sand on farmers' land; some are even mining sand under the banner of river cleaning projects. Avoid supervision by relevant departments.
Dingxi City, Gansu Province, on the western edge of the Loess Plateau. Here, sand and river, sand and land have been the theme of the game between the sand farm and the villagers for nearly ten years.
There are five sand farms located in Pioneer Village, Neiguanying Town, , Anding District, Dingxi City. Near Xinzhuang Gate Club, a van owned by villager Su Chunhui had its windows smashed. Not far away, a red sand truck at Rio Tinto's Wang Yan Sand Field was also forced to stop by villagers.
Villager Su Chunhui: drove down one car per person and stopped on the road to prevent him from leaving. There was one car for each family. Two families were not there, so 22 cars drove down at that time.
Wang Yan Sand Plant mainly provides raw materials for Rio Tinto's concrete plant. The sand farm and the villagers share a dirt road close to the farmland. To facilitate transportation, the sand farm widens the dirt road and encroaches on the farmland space.
villager Su Dong: often produces at night, and the noise is very loud. When I go to sleep, I listen to it, like the sound of heavy rain, non-stop.
The main sand source of Wang Yan Sand Field in the past came from the Pioneer Section of the Xihe River. An eye-catching blue project sign was erected next to the river, indicating that the project was a "river improvement project". It claimed to be able to protect 1,000 acres of farmland and 831 people. Damaged by flooding, the project was executed by Rio Tinto Concrete and completed in March last year.
Reporters saw at the scene that the riverbed in the Renhuasi section of the Xihe River was cracked and uneven. Mounds of waste materials could be seen everywhere. The cement slope protection was only more than one meter higher than the silt in the river. Villager Su Dong said that the sand field dug sand into the river five to six meters deep, but the slope protection was built short and low, which could not prevent floods at all.
Su Dong: He started this project as a project, and collecting sand was the essence. He only built a few hundred meters, less than one kilometer. In fact, the river was more than two kilometers long, and less than half of it was built.
As a business person, the reporter verified with the Water Resources Section of the Anding District Water Affairs Bureau. Chief Yuan said that Wang Yan’s sand field was an unlicensed sand mining operation and had not obtained permission from the Water Affairs Bureau.
Section Chief Yuan: Wang Yan applied for the project and it was approved by the Water Affairs Bureau and the National Development and Reform Commission. He raised his own funds and used the excuse of building bank protection to dig up the river. Now the leaders above are investigating him.
Zhang Bin, the manager of Wang Yan Sand Farm, also admitted that they did not have a legal sand mining license.
In fact, Wang Yan Sand Farm started illegal sand mining a few years ago, but it has never been shut down. Since the sand source of the river has been almost exhausted, in recent years, the sand farm has begun to buy land from nearby villagers to dig sand, causing new disputes.
On October 7 this year, villager Su Chunhui reached a verbal agreement with Wang Yan Sand Farm, and the two parties agreed to exchange sand for soil. However, after the sand was dug out, the land was not leveled with soil. The one-acre land of Su Chunhui's home is now a large pit about 1.6-7 meters deep. The other end of the "pit" is connected to more than 40 acres of farmland. There is an "alkali ditch" to the east and the Xihe River to the south. Su Chunhui is worried that once flooding occurs, the flood may overflow Su Chunhui's land and submerge all the farmland.
Su Chunhui: This land is lower than the river outside. When it rains, the water is very strong. The soil in front cannot stop it. From here, all these areas are flooded.
So Su Chunhui took the lead in blocking the village road, and the scene at the beginning of this article happened.For this reason, he was beaten by unknown persons and almost "kidnapped". In late October, villagers reported the problem of illegal sand mining in the sand field to the provincial leadership mailbox and the mayor's hotline, but the progress was slow when they arrived in Neiguanying Town. ; On November 15, the Anding District Court issued a summons to the relevant villagers, and the cause of the case was "property damage dispute."
Long-term unlicensed operation is not an isolated case.
A reporter’s investigation found that in Dingxi City, similar to Wang Yan’s sand field, long-term unlicensed operations, using river cleaning projects as a cover to extract sand and dig sand from villagers’ land, are not an isolated case. In Anding District, the reporter learned from the water affairs department that there are more than 100 sand quarries, of which only 32 are operating with licenses.
However, Article 39 of my country's " Water Law " clearly stipulates that the state implements a river sand mining license system. If sand mining is within the scope of river management, affecting the stability of the river or endangering the safety of the embankment, the relevant people at or above the county level shall The government's water administrative department shall delineate the no-mining area and specify the no-mining period, and make an announcement.
Despite the severe crackdown, why is illegal sand mining still rampant?
Neiguanying Town is the hardest hit area for illegal sand mining in Anding District, Dingxi City. "Daqiaotou" is the only road leading from Neiguanying Town to Dingxi. Large trucks loaded with sand materials pass by here from time to time. Driver Master Jing told reporters that just one sand farm in Dongyue Village can transport 30 to 40 trucks of sand every day. The sand mining industry in the town is booming, but most companies do not have sand mining licenses.
Reporter: Are there many sand trucks on the road to ?
Master Jing: There are a lot of ! There are probably more than 1,000 cubic meters of sand coming out of that sand yard every day.
Reporter: How many battlefields are there in Neiguan Town?
Master Jing: There are dozens of businesses in Neiguan Town, two or three have certificates, but most do not.
The boss of Zhao Jianwei Sand Farm in Jinhua Village, Neiguanying Town said, “There are more than 20 sand farms within a radius of more than ten kilometers.” The sand sources in the nearby rivers have been basically exhausted, and he needs to buy sand sources from other sand farms. Since it is expensive to apply for a sand mining license, most sand farms do not apply for a license.
Deputy Mayor Liang of Neiguanying Town said that illegal sand mining is not allowed in the town and five or six companies have been shut down this year. It is estimated that a set of procedures for sand mining in a sand yard costs more than 300,000 yuan. Indeed, there are many sand yards that do not have the procedures, and there are also sand yards that go through the process and quarry at the same time.
Different control efforts lead to different degrees of "illegal mining".
Reporters investigated in Dingxi City and found that Longxi County has stricter control over illegal sand mining; but in Weiyuan County , there are sand farms using the name of river cleaning projects. Sand; Lintao County There are unlicensed sand farms secretly producing sand, and some sand farms operated with licenses do not mine sand in a standardized manner.
Longxi County has closed down all sand fields in the Weihe River basin for rectification. Wenfeng Town Sansanlipu Village, Boss Kang’s sand farm is located by the Weishui River. The person in charge said that although it has a license, it cannot be mined and needs to apply for a new license. In the first half of this year, sand was washed at the sand farm.
reporter: When was turned off?
Boss Kang Shachang: Our electricity was turned off in the first half of this year and at the end of last year.
Reporter: Don’t we have a certificate for ?
Kang Boss Sand Field: All areas along the Weihe River have been reorganized.
A sand yard owner in Longxi County also expressed to reporters his idea of disposing of old materials and shutting down the sand yard: "We are no longer allowed to use it. Even a loader has been driven away by the law enforcement bureau. This is the case in the whole of Longxi. Longxi's management is very strict." "
Weiyuan County has also taken great efforts to crack down on illegal sand mining. In Helizhuang Village, Huichuan Town, a sand farm had a sign saying "River Cleaning Project Department". The boss said that it was difficult to obtain a sand mining license, so he had to apply for it. We have a project that can dig out sand sources in a river channel 50 meters wide and two kilometers long. The boss said that in the name of the project, on the one hand, sand is mined; on the other hand, funds for repairs and maintenance can also be obtained.
Today The Tao River is full of scars (data map), photo by People's Daily reporter Cao Shulin
Wu Wei's sand field in Wolong Village, Lintao County is quite large. Wu Wei said that even if the procedures are complete, mining of the Tao River is not allowed. Sand can be extracted from some sections of the Tao River through river cleaning projects.
Chief Wei of the River Station of Lintao County Water Conservancy Bureau said that there are more than 100 sand farms in Lintao County, half of which have certificates. Sand excavation for river improvement projects is not strictly allowed.
Chief Wei: There is no river improvement project here. Only in the urban area, there is a river improvement project. But strictly speaking, there are no permit procedures. Some things are tacitly approved by the government. Once it's managed well, you can just dig away the sand.
Chief Yuan of the Water Resources and Water Resources Section of the Anding District Water Affairs Bureau told reporters that all river cleaning projects are fake. No river cleaning project has been approved in Anding District so far, and they are all illegal mining.
To control the chaos of sand mining, the staff of Wenfeng Town Comprehensive Law Enforcement Bureau put it straight!
staff: The main problem with is the intensity issue. To stop illegal activities, you must have intensity. Generally, if the intensity is not increased, it will be easier to rebound.
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