TRICHY | Jun 16, 2015: The Centre would introduce a new national policy on sand mining in a couple of months, said Union minister of state for environment Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters here, the minister said, "Sand mafias and unscientific sand mining are taking a toll on the river ecosystem. We need to do sustainable mining and should not kill rivers. Scientific sustainable sand mining based on satellite mapping would soon be introduced."

He said satellite images of sand deposits would be taken based on which sustainable excavation of sand would be done on a particular region. This would help us avoid excessive mining.

Javadekar was here en route to Kumbakonam to attend BJP's state executive committee meeting.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)

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ALSO READ: New sand mining policy soon: Centre (Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)