Environmental Impact Assessment Of River Sand Mining Using Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix(Riam) From Bharathapuzha River, Central Kerala, India-

Rivers play a major role in shaping the geographic, biological and cultural diversity of a region through which it drains. During the past 4-5 decades, anthropogenic activities like mining, damming, pollution, etc. have degraded these fragile ecosystems disrupting their natural dynamic equilibrium that is essential to maintain its stability as well as vitality. With the rapid development in the economy and growth in population, mining of rivers widely for river bed materials, especially sand and gravel, began to continue to meet the demand in the construction sector and gradually flourished as an industry. Sand and gravel are non-renewable resources, possibly in the human life scale. Further, indiscriminate sand mining from rivers can cause serious environmental problems, if the river being mined is erosional. So the present study is an attempt to unravel the environmental effects of sand mining from Bharathapuzha river which is located in the central Kerala.