While issues of pollution, floods and drought in our rivers are widely studied, there is a hidden crisis
with respect to the widespread global extraction of sand. Large volumes of sand are needed in the
construction industry to make concrete. So far, callsfor greater monitoring of sand mining activity have
largely gone unmet. ...
While issues of pollution, floods and drought in our rivers are widely studied, there is a hidden crisis
with respect to the widespread global extraction of sand. Large volumes of sand are needed in the
construction industry to make concrete. So far, callsfor greater monitoring of sand mining activity have
largely gone unmet. This is due to the fact mining is extensive, often hidden (e.g. underwater) and thus
very difficult to properly assess. To meet this challenge, we use remote sensing methods to detect and
monitor sand mining activities at the catchment scale, across the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river
system (catchment size 1.72 million km2
). Based on this analysis, here we show that mining activity is
diverse and pervasive across the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna catchment system for our study period
of 2016-2021, with rates of extraction increasing within some of the rivers. Results show the total
estimate for sand extraction is ~ 115 MTyr-1 +/- 20 MTyr-1
, which is of a similar order of magnitude to
the natural bedload flux of the catchment. While there are some limitations to deriving estimates
based solely on imagery, this work highlights both the widespread spatial extent and large magnitude
of sand mining for one of the world’s biggest catchments. Furthermore, given our estimated scale of
sand extraction, it demonstrates the need to properly account for mining activities when considering
delivery of sediment to deltas in terms of the management of these vulnerable systems in the face of
rising sea-levels. Overall, this work stresses the urgent requirement for further similar studies of sand
extraction in the world’s large rivers, which is vital to underpin sustainable management plans for the
global sand commons.
