Sand mining (without clearance), banned in India....but will the ban work?

Excerpt from the Business Standard of today

The National Green Tribunal on Monday banned mining or removal of sand from river beds across the country without an environmental clearance, amid the uproar over the suspension of an Indian Administrative Service officer, Durga Shakti Nagpal, who had cracked down on the sand mafia in Uttar Pradesh.

The tribunal noted the loss caused to the state due to illegal sand mining could run into lakhs of crores. The order was given on a plea alleging that such activities were going on in UP with the "wilful connivance" of its state machinery.

However, almost as soon as the ban has been imposed, serious doubts have been expressed about the efficacy of the NGT ban (see below) :-

Nothing other than raw and naked greed is behind the uninhibited plundering of riverine resources for very short term benefits.
Rather coincidentally, I had expressed my views and reservations about sand mining, years back in a post on this blog. You can read it here

Praful Rao,

Kalimpong,

Dist Darjeeling