New signs of illegal sand mining in the Yangtze River Basin: Stealing sand under the guise of dredging and "ant moving" style sand theft in the Yangtze River Basin

Wuhan, June 5th (Xinhua) -- New signs of illegal sand mining in the Yangtze River Basin: Stealing sand under the guise of dredging and "ant moving" sand theft

Xinhua News Agency's "Xinhua Perspective" reporter

Recently, Xinhua Vision reporters conducted research along the Yangtze River and found that under the high-pressure situation of continuous crackdowns, the management order of sand mining in the main stream of the Yangtze River continues to stabilize and improve. However, driven by interests, some illegal elements have turned their attention to the tributaries and used the name of "dredging projects" to carry out sand mining, resulting in a frequent occurrence of "ant moving" style sand theft cases.

Stealing mining under the name of "dredging and dredging"

When the reporter visited along the tributaries, he encountered sand transport ships several times, and most of their sand mining was carried out under the banner of "dredging and dredging" and "comprehensive river management".

"Some ships may appear to be dredging engineering ships with complete certificates, but they are likely to engage in illegal sand mining activities with strong concealment, which increases the difficulty of cracking down on illegal sand mining." Liu Pinggang, Director of the Supervision Department of the Sand Management Bureau of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, introduced that this type of dredging engineering ship is like an ordinary ship when traveling, lifting the sand mining equipment to extract sand.

"That kind of sand stealing ship with six sand suction pipes can absorb about 2000 tons of river sand in an hour and sell for hundreds of thousands of yuan," the investigating police officer who once solved the case of the extremely large river sand theft told reporters.

Three sand transport ships filled with river sand are sailing on a primary tributary of the Yangtze River.

A university professor who has been involved in the evaluation of water conservancy projects for a long time is concerned that in some places, sand mining is carried out under the pretext of "dredging" to obtain economic benefits and meet engineering construction needs. "Many counties along the Yangtze River Basin are queuing up to apply for 'dredging' of their waterways, and I dare not sign off on some 'dredging' projects that have been reviewed by me. In order to avoid supervision and approval from higher authorities, some places even break down so-called 'ecological dredging' projects into smaller ones and divide them into smaller ones."

Journalists have found through research that some sand theft gangs also whitewash illegal sand mining by falsely opening, forging, and reusing sand and gravel mining management forms. In July 2021, joint law enforcement by multiple departments discovered a hidden sand suction pump ship stealing river sand in a certain water area in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The police have seized 15 sand and gravel mining and transportation management orders that were falsely opened and resold, with each order selling for approximately 100000 yuan.

The "Ant Moving" style of stealing sand is difficult to prevent

The reporter visited a tributary of the Yangtze River and walked only two to three kilometers along the river, only to see three small sand suction machines parked in the river. Some are small sand suction rafts, which use pipes to suck sand in water and can be operated by one person; Some are excavators that dig sand directly from the exposed riverbed and then transport it away with small trucks. The reporter saw along the river that due to excessive sand mining, many broken riverbed areas were shocking: the river was full of deep pits, and the water inside the pits became dead storage capacity, while the outside of the pits was dry and covered with weeds.

A sand mining site on a primary tributary of the Yangtze River. After the reporter pointed out the problem, the local authorities carried out a rectification of sand stealing equipment.

"There used to be a sand and gravel mining area in the river here, but after more than a decade of excavation, there was almost no space for large-scale mining. Sand mining is now prohibited," said a local township official. However, although sand mining is explicitly prohibited, the continuous "ant moving" style sand stealing behavior is repeatedly prohibited.

When visiting other tributaries in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, reporters also found similar situations. Water conservancy officials and police officers generally stated that illegal sand mining cases in the main stream of the Yangtze River have been decreasing year by year through the implementation of "four linked single" management, increased inspections through technological means, and frequent cross departmental joint law enforcement. However, small-scale cases such as ant moving and sand theft in the Yangtze River tributaries have become a common problem, with high difficulty and cost in law enforcement.

"Some villagers secretly mine sand. When we come, they stop, and when we leave, they continue to mine. We don't have the law enforcement force, so we have no choice," said a township official. Especially since last year, the drought has caused the water level to drop and the riverbed to be exposed, making "ant moving" sand theft more convenient.

In the middle of last year, Yongxiu County, Jiangxi Province, detected an illegal mining case of "ant moving" type. In more than one year, five suspect, including Zhu and Liu, gained hundreds of thousands of yuan by "ant moving" type illegal mining of river sand.

A county-level city in the Jingjiang section of the Yangtze River is famous for its high-quality river sand. The staff of the local comprehensive law enforcement center told reporters that small-scale sand mining cases have encountered difficulties in law enforcement. "Many cases involve small amounts of sand theft multiple times, and the amount involved in a single case often does not meet the filing standards."

During the interview, grassroots law enforcement officers told reporters that the low price of small sand mining tools is also one of the reasons for the frequent occurrence of cases. The reporter searched on e-commerce platforms and found that a small sand pump with a silencer can be purchased for only about 3000 yuan. "A simple float can be used to extract river sand, which can extract about 25 tons per hour," the merchant told reporters.

The riverbed near a sand mining plant on a tributary of the Yangtze River.

Professor Li Jianhua from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Tongji University and other interviewed experts stated that illegal sand mining from the Yangtze River will bring multiple negative impacts: firstly, it will damage the habitat of aquatic organisms and affect the ecology of the Yangtze River; Secondly, it may lead to a decrease in groundwater level, deterioration of water quality, and endanger the drinking water safety of people along the river; Thirdly, excessive sand mining can significantly alter the riverbed topography and pose a threat to embankments and ship navigation safety.

Rectification of illegal sand mining should be promoted towards tributaries

In 2022, the Ministry of Public Security organized 11 provinces in the Yangtze River Basin and the Yangtze River shipping public security organs to carry out a special operation to crack down on illegal sand mining crimes in the Yangtze River. More than 270 such cases were investigated, more than 90 criminal gangs were dismantled, more than 190 illegal sand mining and transportation ships were seized, and more than 2.2 million tons of river sand were found to be involved in the case, with a total amount of 320 million yuan.

The relevant person in charge of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission believes that with the economic recovery, the demand for sand and gravel may increase, and it is necessary to prevent the rebound of illegal sand mining behavior driven by excessive profits.

The Yangtze River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect in 2021, provides clear provisions for illegal sand mining activities: confiscate illegal gains and ships, equipment, and tools used for illegal activities, and impose a fine of not less than twice but not more than twenty times the value of the goods; If the value of the goods is less than 100000 yuan, a fine of not less than 200000 yuan but not more than 2 million yuan shall be imposed.

The relevant person in charge of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission suggests increasing the importance of sand mining management in related tributaries and lakes of the Yangtze River, and promoting the management experience of illegal sand mining in the Yangtze River main stream to the entire basin as soon as possible.

Firstly, overall consideration should be given to the sediment supply and resource distribution of tributaries and lakes, further improving the relevant systems and approval processes for the comprehensive utilization of dredged sand, and developing management methods for the comprehensive utilization of dredged sand that are in line with the actual situation in various regions. At the same time, we will accelerate the intelligent supervision of sand mining, with "technical prevention" as the main focus and "civil defense" as a supplement. We will promote electronic fence technology and electronic measurement technology, improve the automation and intelligence level of river sand mining supervision technology, and avoid legal projects exceeding the time limit, quantity, and scope of sand mining.

Industry insiders such as Liu Pinggang suggest continuing to strengthen the supervision of ship modification and reducing the number of sand stealing ships from the source; Intensify the crackdown on the "ant moving" style illegal mining in the Yangtze River Basin, conduct regular inspections and surprise inspections of relevant river sections; Accelerate the unification of sand and gravel "ID cards", and implement closed-loop supervision on sand and gravel mining, transportation, and sales related invoices.