Bihar: Ten days on, 10 villagers including 5 women and a minor, still in jail; sand mining in Gaya turns violent

Arhatpur, Gaya (Bihar)

Rajanti Devi's arm still hurts and she can barely use it. She was injured two weeks ago when the police cracked down on villagers at Arhatpur village in Gaya district, who were protesting against the sand mining.

" I went to the nilaami (mine auction) to protest the sand mining," Rajanti Devi told Gaon Connection, as she showed a large blue bruise on her arm. "The police attacked us with a lathi. They began hitting us recklessly, many men sustained injuries on their heads and even young girls were not spared," the 35-year-old said.

"They are about to mine so close to the village. This will cause the Morhar river to flow dangerously close to our houses, floods can wash away the entire village," she worried.

On February 15, about 100 villagers approached the officials who were conducting the auction of the sand mine and protested against the proposed mining which they feared would increase their vulnerability during the floods. An argument ensued which ended with the police and the villagers clashing.

What followed was tear gas shelling and a baton charge by the police, which left as many as 50 people injured. Some of them are receiving medical aid at the primary health centre (PHC) in Belaganj.

Ten villagers were arrested on February 15, six of them women. Visuals of women sitting with handcuffs went viral on social media the next day on February 16.

As per the first information report (FIR) lodged at Gaya district's Main police station, the villagers were charged with rioting, attempt to murder, unlawful assembly and assault of public servants. Sections 147, 148, 149, 323, 332, 333, 337, 338, 341, 307, 353 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been cited by the police in the FIR.

This is not the first time that the villagers have protested. "Since 2020, the authorities have attempted to conduct the auction of the sand on three occasions. On the first two occasions, the villagers came in hordes and interrupted the auction. So, this time we went to support the mining officials and police personnel were deployed in advance," Ram Prakash Singh, station house officer (SHO), Main police station told Gaon Connection.

According to the SHO, on February 15, the villagers began to quarrel with the officials and even pelted stones. "We fired tear gas shells and had to resort to a baton charge. Some police personnel also sustained injuries too," he added.

'Relentless use of force, private property damaged'

On their part, the village inhabitants alleged that an indiscriminate use of force was used to quell the protesters.

"My old mother, sister and wife were attacked by the constables even when they returned home. I was myself beaten up and couldn't breathe for a while as I was hit on the chest by a rifle," Hare Ram Yadav, a villager told Gaon Connection. He described what happened in terrifying detail. "About 18-20 constables broke into my house and dragged the women out as if they were animals. They broke the door, damaged the walls and dented my motorcycle," Yadav recalled, obviously still traumatised by what had happened.

In response to allegations of excessive force used by the police, the SHO said the administration could do no wrong and he did not want to seek recourse to accusations.

"Janta janta hai, prashaasan to kabhi galat kar nahin sakta hai [the public can say whatever it wants but the administration can't do something wrong]," SHO Ram Prakash Singh declared. "Aarop pratyarop se nahin chalega [Indulging in accusations and counter-accusations is meaningless," he told Gaon Connection.

Several women who spoke to Gaon Connection on condition of anonymity said that the police were brutal and many of them were hit on their private parts.

"We were dragged out of our houses and beaten up. The only shred of self-respect that we can now have is not to allow even a grain of sand to be taken away from our village," 32-year-old Ram Dulari told Gaon Connection.

'Living in constant fear of crackdowns'

Meanwhile, as the inhabitants of Arhatpur tend to their injuries, the fear of another crackdown and arrests is tangible. They can't sleep at night, said Surender Prasad Yadav, a middle-aged resident of the village.

"We live in constant despair. The police action was brutal and even the sand mafia has warned us of consequences for opposing the auction," he told Gaon Connection. "We are not demanding anything unjust. We only ask for compensation and measures to ensure the safety of the villagers in the monsoons when the Morhar is in spate," he said.

Surendra Prasad wanted to know why the government was turning a deaf ear to their pleas. "We want an embankment to be built here as there is a very strong possibility of the village and our agriculture fields being inundated during the monsoon season," he added.

Legal mining, illegal mining and a lot in between

According to Anshul Kumar, joint secretary, Mines and Geology department, the state government had issued a tender for auction at the mining site in Gaya.

"A lot has been done to check illegal mining in the state. The government came up with the Bihar Minerals Concession Rules [Bihar Minerals (Concession, Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation & Storage) 2019], to check illegal mining activity in the state. The fines are hefty in order to check the incidence of illegal mining," Kumar told Gaon Connection

Sand mining has always been in the eye of the storm, be it for the local mafias running illegal mining operations in the state or when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) took cognizance of the government-organised auctions, that were later deemed as invalid.

In October, last year, auctions for various sand mines across the state were deferred after NGT found flaws with the district survey reports which had approved the mining activities.

Also, according to data from South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), that works on issues related to rivers, between January 2019 and November 2020, there have been 193 deaths due to illegal river sand mining incidents/accidents in India.

"Over the years, India's rivers and riparian ecology have been badly affected by unrestricted sand mining," Lara Jesani, an advocate who has represented NGT in legal cases, was quoted in a Gaon Connection report published in 2020.

"Sand mining damages the ecosystem of rivers and the safety of bridges, weakens riverbeds, destroys natural habitats of organisms living on riverbeds, affects fish breeding and migration, and increases saline water in the rivers," she added.