Never Back Down

Crucial for India's booming construction industry, illegal sand mining has been allowed to go unchecked for decades. But environmentalist Sumaira Abdulali has remained steadfast in her efforts to put a stop to it. 

- NEHA MEHTA

Sand mining is a recent, 21st-century phenomenon, fuelled by the massive construction booms arising around the world. Modern cities are built on sandit is needed to make concrete, cement, glass and tarmac but not the vastly abundant, fine, desert sand. Instead, the construction industry requires the coarse, sharp grains found on beaches and riverbeds. India's construction market is poised to become the world's third largest and its ravenous need for sand is rapidly eroding coastlines and groundwater levels, damaging ecosystems and livelihoods.

When Sumaira Abdulali first noticed sand mining, she wasn't aware of its looming threat to coastal environments. The young mother wasn't even an environmental activist yet. For her, it was personal as someone who grew up on Kihim beach in Alibag and spent a free, uninhibited childhood roaming its beaches, seeing large trucks transporting sand away, leaving a pockmarked, ravaged coast, was enough to propel her into action. She raised objections with the local authorities and looked to her community for support, but was met with confusion or apathy. "People would say things like, "There's plenty of sand, why are you wasting your time? There are more important issues to worry about like poverty or education," Abdulali frowns.