HC notice to CoP in fourth contempt petition in illegal sand mining

Panaji: The Bombay high court on Monday issued a notice to the captain of ports in a fourth contempt petition concerning illegal sand mining. The Goa River Sand Protectors Network highlighted the failure of the captain of ports to comply with high court directions to confiscate canoes involved in illegal sand mining, as well as unregistered canoes operating in the river or parked on river banks.

The principal areas where illegal sand mining resumed on a major scale, with dozens of canoes plying in the river and openly extracting sand day and night, with trucks waiting on the banks to transport it to construction sites, are Amona, Torxem, Kerim, Agarwada, Camurlim and Corjem.


The root of the illegal sand mining problem began with inaction by the captain of ports and its failure to confiscate boats used for illegal sand mining and unregistered canoes parked on the river banks, the network submitted to the high court. It added that if this principal action of stopping canoes from plying in the river and openly extracting sand day and night was done, then a large portion of the illegal sand mining activities would immediately come to a halt.

The network, an informal group of citizens residing in different parts of Goa who independently objected to illegal sand mining, was compelled to approach the high court again as complaints to the captain of ports and various authorities were met with complete apathy, disinterest and inaction from officials, the network stated.

The high court on Oct 15, 2025, laid out several measures to stop illegal sand mining, but authorities, except for a few token measures, failed to act in accordance with the directions, due to which illegal sand mining once again started flourishing in Goa, the network told the high court.

Canoes with labourers in them carried out large-scale extraction of sand, primarily through the use of suction pumps. This sand extraction was carried out throughout the night until early morning. Once canoes were filled with sand, they returned to the bank of the river, from where a large number of labourers unloaded the sand from the canoes and reloaded it onto the waiting trucks to transport the river sand directly to construction sites across Goa, the network submitted to the high court.