Sand mining

The largest economic sector
In India today
Is its constuction industry
That has almost blown away
Any semblance of reality
Around major cities where
Huge numbers of new houses
Are being built, and there
The need for sand is massive
And sadly what we see
Is manual and mechanical harvesting
That be

Much of it is criminally sourced
And the manual side of things
Represents ex fisherman for they
Free dive into creeks and rivers
300 times a day
And bring up a bucket of botton sand
Which will
Add to the need of a single house
Which is 200 tons the bill

Extends beyond the construction
Back to the source in fact
Rivers and creeks and lakes and beaches
Are disappearing are being attacked
Animals murdered currents erosion
Flooding its flagrantly wrong
Its destruction for profit
And Its dangerous work
And it really just doesn’t belong

Corruption a wave of it permeates
Politicians and the police and elsewhere
Contractors everyones at it
All want their own bit to share
And there Lies the problem its wholesale destruction
Of the coastlines and river beds where
The sand is extracted and the risks are compacted
And the sparseness is already there

A hospital building will use some 3000 tons
Of sand thats a very great deal
Each kilometre of a new highway
30,000 tons we reveal
Now we are closer to the problem
Construction of cities its true
It happens but the cost is enormous
The destruction of environments do

Happen and happen real quickly
Mechanical harvesting does suck
tons of the sand from perhaps the beach land
And really they are pushing their luck
Its too much with so many victims
And erosion and river bank loss
Flooding is becoming more hazardous
It is creating chaos

As for the manual sand diving
The perils are easy to see
The creeks they are diving in
Have dangerous currents
And free diving there
You can be
Already the pollution and depth
Of the dive
Is hazardous in the extreme
Each diver dives 300 times a day
Thats 300 buckets a team
Could be as many as 1000
But the dangers are now everywhere
We must safeguard all divers
Safeguard the environment
And try to reduce the despair

Its known as the new gold for taking
Its a hell of a scam and what we
See all along the great rivers
Is destruction and disasters to be
Human rights clearly are failing
These divers some are washed away
Others are being caught up in the magic
Criminal op’s more each day

With some 40 million construction workers
Theres a panic set in and we see
Urbanization raising its head
India wants now to be
Its cities re built and done quickly
And its closing its eyes to the threat
Of the awful destruction of rivers and lakes
Its a ruinous project to set

All this concrete needs sand
And the illicit trade
Sees destruction all over the place
More contamination is happening fast
It presents India with a grim face
An ugly mishapen inanity
A cock and bull story of grief
On all levels it is now frightening
And for some it just beggars belief.

MUMBAI 12.5million inhabitants which has grown
By 3.1 per cent in 10 years
DELHI 11 million inhabitants
Which has grown 4.1 percent

19 million waiting for new homes
40 million construction workers