Union serves 7-day ultimatum to end riverbed mining in Chathe

Dimapur, Feb. 24 (EMN): Citing contamination of drinking water, the Naga Tribal Union Chümoukedima Town has asked authorities concerned to stop riverbed mining in Chathe River within seven days.

In a press release issued on Monday, the union stated that use of heavy machinery to extract stone/boulders from Chathe River and its upstream tributaries has turned the water muddy and contaminated—rendering it unfit and harmful to both human and animals.

“The harmful impact is directly affecting the people in the downstream, particularly Chümoukedima town and its surrounding villages. The situation is getting more and more aggravated during the current lean period where both human and animals are all depending on this river,” it added.

The union reminded that on July 14, 2017, the then deputy commissioner of Dimapur had banned the use of heavy machinery for extraction of resources in Dhansiri and Chathe River within Dimapur district.

Also, it stated, the ADC of Medziphema had issued a restriction order February 28, 2019.

However, the order was ‘never complied with’ by those involved in the extraction and the administration also ‘never bothered to oversee the effectiveness of its own order, thus making it only a paper tiger’.

Against this backdrop, the union informed that it has decided to give the DC Dimapur and the ADC Medziphema, seven days’ time—starting February 24—to “strictly enforce” their respective orders.  Failure to do so would force the union to prevent any truck carrying boulders from crossing the ‘police check-gate, be it from the Chathe River or not’, it warned.