GUWAHATI
The letter, signed by ADSU general secretary Suraj Naiding and president Arujit Kemprai, highlighted the impact of such activities on tribal livelihoods. The ADSU pointed to severe bank erosion and structural hazards, warning that mechanised dredging and unscientific riverbed scooping were destabilising riverbanks and accelerating soil erosion during the monsoon season. The union further warned of extensive aquatic habitat destruction, with excessive siltation and riverbed disturbance decimating local biodiversity, including native and endangered fish species, by destroying breeding grounds and disrupting natural hydrology. It noted that rural and indigenous communities, dependent on these riparian systems for traditional fishing, agriculture and household water, were facing immediate socio-economic distress.
It said this was endangering critical lifelines, including National Highway 27 and railway lines, while triggering recurrent landslides near habitations. It called for strict penal action against illegal operators and quarry owners operating without approved mining plans, valid leases or environmental clearances from the State-Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority, under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
