Faresmaathoda Council warns of ‘irrevocable damage’ amid rise in illegal sand mining

The local council issued an urgent appeal on Sunday, warning of “irrevocable damage” to the environment as people continue to illegally mine sand and gravel from GDh. Faresmaathoda and surrounding uninhabited islands.

In an announcement on Sunday, the council said it has noticed an increase in collection of sand and gravel from the island’s beaches, as well as soil from neighboring uninhabited islands.

“Mining gravel from this island’s beach and soil from uninhabited islands is resulting in irrevocable damage to our fragile environment,” warned the council. “As such, we want to highlight how this is making the island vulnerable environmental threats such as coastal erosion and tidal flooding.”

The council stressed that the serious environmental damage from sand and gravel mining is the very reason why it is prohibited.

“Therefore, we call upon the beloved residents of this island to immediately stop taking gravel from the island’s beaches and soil from uninhabited islands in order to protect the island’s natural beauty,” appealed the council.

The appeal comes two weeks after the council caught a group of men mining sand from an uninhabited island near Faresmaathoda.

The incident took place on July 26, and prompted the council to force the men to empty the sacks of sand they collected back into the beach.

Council president Mohamed Sabah told Sun back then that Faresmaathoda used to have three uninhabited islands neighboring it, but that one of the islands has since ceased to exist due to sand mining.

He expressed concern that people continue to mine sand from the remaining two islands.

“These are islands that we must safely deliver to our children. We are also required to uphold the law,” he said.

Sabah urged people not to engage in illegal sand mining, and collect sand only from permitted zones.

It is illegal to collect sand from the beaches of uninhabited islands in the Maldives, unless with special permission.