Challenges to Environmental Sustainability : A Study on the Impact of Sand Mining on Alappad Village, Kerala

The paper provides an outline of the impact of sand mining on environment in Kerala, with special reference to the Alappad, Kollam. Today our environment is facing a series of challenges which are both natural and manmade like global warming, climate change, ozone depletion, different kinds of pollution, natural disasters like floods, droughts etc. Mining is the practice of extracting sand from an open pit, sea beaches, rivers and ocean beds, river banks, deltas or inland dunes. The extracted sand can be suitable for various types of manufacturing. As population grow and rates of urbanization also increases, these high levels of demand have often led to the use of unsustainable sand extraction processes and illegal sand mining. The extraction of sand is rampant in many rivers of India. With the construction boom fuelling the demand, weak governance and widespread corruption are facilitating uncontrolled and illegal mining of sand and gravel in the rivers, threatening their very existence. For the past few years, Kerala's attention has been focused on the seaside village of Alappad. Alappad mineral sand extraction was initiated by Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited (KMML), a government sector venture in Kollam, and Indian Rare Earths (IRE). Abandoned homes, deserted school, heaps of sand, a lone temple and dried up mangroves are the worst impact of mining. How does the black sand extraction in Alappad effects the society and environment? Why Illegal sand mining is rampant in Alappad region and how it affects the local people? What is the reaction of different stakeholders in Alappad issue? Here are a few of the concerns that I will seek to answer through this paper.

Keywords:
Alappad Village, Coastal Erosion, Environmental Sustainability, Sand Mining, KMML, Soil infertility, Fish Mangroves