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RIVERS RANSACKED: Dry rivers are a testimony of damage caused to the ecosystem due to sand mining.

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Ahmednagar (Maharashtra): Parched land and desiccated wells are all signs of a severe drought, but craters on riverbeds across Maharashtra are telling the tale of a manmade ecological disaster in the making.

The law prohibits sand mining below three feet, but illegal sand excavators dredge as deep as 30 feet at most places until the riverbed is bereft of sand. The result are rocky and lifeless rivers which can't absorb water, leading to dead and buried wells.

Due to illegal sand excavation, a complete layer of sand has vanished from riverbeds and the ground water table is plummeting to dangerously low levels, ominous signs for the future.

A farmer, Bharat Perne says, "Earlier after digging just a few feet, we used to get water. But now, even after digging up to 80 feet there is no water. Infact, we get saline water. Sand worth Rs 10 crore has been illegally excavated from this area alone.

The illegal sand mining is making the river water unfit for human and animal consumption and threatening the livelihood of fisherfolks and farmers. What's more, it is also believed to have weakened the foundation of several bridges.

"A bridge near my fields was covered in 20 feet of sand from below, but it has been excavated illegally and now the foundation of the bridge is weak. However, trains are still running on it," says Perne.

Noted activist, Anna Hazare, who is on a vow of silence to protest the government's apathy towards the problem, claims that everyday more than 2,000 truckloads of sand is being illegally excavated from rivers across Maharashtra.

And the well-entrenched sand mafia swindling the sand for builders in cities makes no bones about the unflinching political support they enjoy.

"Sab neta log hai, vo kehtey hain daro mat, lage raho. "(Politicians are involved and they tell us, 'don't be scared. Keep mining)," admits a contractor. His confession was recorded on a hidden camera

A CNN-IBN team tracking the story was threatened. The team was told by a village sarpanch: "Yahaan koi government nahi hai, sab gundon ki sarkar hai." (There is no government here. Goons make the rules.")

The CNN-IBN team accompanied local authorities on a raid, but only a handful of the thousands of illegal trucks were seized.

Ahmednagar Deputy Collecter, Vikas Pansare says, "We conduct regular raids, confiscate the trucks and impose fines."

The River Ghod, which has gone completely dry, not just depicts the vagaries of monsoons but is also a testimony of the irreparable damage caused to the ecosystem due to rampant sand excavation.