China is considering drafting a law to regulate the increasing
extraction of sand from watercourses, an official said yesterday.
People remove the sand to sell but this endangers flood-control
embankments and water flow on major rivers.
Earlier this month, Kuang Shaotao, the official at the Ministry of
Water Resources, said: "The ministry will investigate the problem
in China's 14 provinces to use as evidence when drafting the
law."
Kuang urged the local authorities to look into the random and
illegal extraction of sand from rivers, including sand excavation
activities that take place outside permitted areas or time periods,
and excavation without a license.
"Any sand excavation must be approved by the ministries of water
resources, communications, and land and resources, with permits
issued by all of them," Kuang stated.
"A
sand-extraction ban has been implemented for more than two years by
some provinces, such as Jiangsu and Anhui, along the middle and
lower reaches of the Yangtze - China's longest river - to prevent
more damage being caused," Kuang told a press conference in
Beijing.
A
special rule governing sand extraction on the river also came into
effect at the beginning of this year.
Under the rule, the first of its kind in China, illegal sand
excavation faces heavy fines of up to 300,000 yuan (US$36,140) and
the confiscation of income and boats.
The Ministry of Water Resources has issued a circular urging the
relevant authorities to tighten their control and administration
over the extraction of sand from rivers, particularly illegal
extraction on major watercourses using powerful suction pumps.
Controlled sand excavation and quarrying on watercourses facilitate
speeding up the discharge of floods, experts say.
The random extraction of sand, however, has caused some serious
hazards on rivers, with riverbeds cut irregularly and the stability
of the river affected, they warned.
Excessive sand extraction has caused some sections of flood-control
embankments to collapse and poses a threat to the safety of bridges
and other structures across rivers.
There have been repeated shipwrecks and crashes with heavy
casualties and economic damage on rivers due to sand-extraction
boats jamming major watercourses in recently years, according to
the Ministry of Water Resources yesterday.
Disputes over illegal sand extraction from cross-border rivers in
different areas have affected public security. Some organized
criminal gangs have been found to have a finger in the
profit-making pie.
(China
Daily August 8, 2002)