THE blasting Of
Chandardinga hills
source of granite rocks - situated on the banks
of Brahmaputra in
Dhubri district of
Assam has blown
up into a big issue
(Down To Earth,
Vol 4, No 18). The matter has now been
dragged to the Guwahati High Court by
the Appropriate Technology Mission,
Assam, a non -governmental organisation which has filed a public interest
case against the blasting. Subsequently,
the court has issued notices to the director of geology and mining of the
government-owned Minerals and Metals
Trading Corporation and the exporter,
Rock Product Traders.
Environmentalists fear that the
blasting could change the course of the
river causing environmental degradation, besides monetary losses. The hill
protects huge low-lying areas of
Bilasipara sub-division of Dhubri district from inundation. Located along the
north bank, the hill also controls the
hydrological regime of one of the most
erosive rivers in the world. Environmentalists believe that the export of
granites to Bangladesh is a ploy to make
huge profits by re-exporting them to
the Gulf.
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