Lucknow: A 30-year-old man in UP’s Shamli is feared to have drowned in a deep pit of the Yamuna river on Friday due to illegal sand mining. This is the eighth such incident in the last 15 days and two bodies have not been recovered so far. Five of the total deaths are minors. In view of the recent incidents, the district administration has now banned people from taking bath in the river here. Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Shamli) Vijay Shankar Mishra said, “Signboards have been put up banning bathing at the ghats.”
Assistant Superintendent of Police OP Singh said that the police is ensuring that people do not bathe on the banks of the river here. Friday’s victim has been identified as Binder Kumar of Udpur village. His brother Sanju Kumar said, “My brother died after falling into a deep pit while bathing cattle. Officials reached the spot to inspect, but no search operation was launched. Local villagers and divers recovered the body till evening.” Looked for it, but couldn’t find it.”
Billions of rupees were spent for the cleanliness of Yamuna in Agra, the river became a drain
Two brothers drowned in Yamuna on June 3
On June 3, Major Singh, a farmer from Haryana from Tarawadi village, along with his family had come to UP to take a holy dip in the river as part of a religious ritual. Lost both his sons- Sushant (15) and Sagar (18) while taking a bath. Major Singh said, “It was very painful for me to see my children drowning in front of my eyes. One body was recovered on June 5 and the other two days later.”
Mafia activity increased danger to people’s lives
Mahipal Singh, the former village head of Nai Nagla village, has accused the officials of joining hands with the mining mafia. Talking to the media, he said that illegal mining by the mafia has increased in the river. Due to the increase in the activities of the mafia, the danger to the lives of the people has increased.
Miners flouting rules
“Tenders are floated by the government for sand mining, but miners flout rules and ravage the area, leading to high extraction, especially a few months before the monsoon,” said an official on condition of anonymity. During the pre-monsoon, activity increases as river swells during the rainy season make sand extraction impossible.”
