NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday alleged that illegal sand mining in Burari area is continuing unchecked, accusing the BJP-led administration of colluding with the mining mafia. The party claimed that hundreds of trucks are ferrying sand from the Yamuna every day while authorities turn a blind eye, despite repeated complaints.
AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bhardwaj and Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha shared a video on social media platform X showing alleged illegal sand mining near the Yamuna riverbank in Burari. Bhardwaj said the video clearly shows large-scale, open theft of sand.
“Not one or two, but hundreds of trucks are openly stealing sand from the Yamuna in Delhi. Each truck sells for around `30,000. Despite this happening daily, neither the Delhi nor the Uttar Pradesh administration took any action,” Bhardwaj alleged.
He said the National Green Tribunal (NGT) intervened only after repeated complaints. “The NGT had taken cognisance earlier in October 2025 and even before that in March. It is now January 2026, and only after NGT pressure was a Special Task Force formed and raids conducted,” he said.
Bhardwaj claimed that a several-kilometre-long dirt road was constructed through agricultural fields to allow trucks to reach the riverbank. “Such a road cannot come up overnight. It would have taken 10–15 days and could not have been built without the knowledge and permission of the local administration,” he alleged.
Referring to submissions before the NGT, Bhardwaj said both the Delhi and UP governments have officially stated that no permission for mining was granted and that documents shown were fake. “Mining continued day and night across a 7–8 km stretch, fully within the knowledge of the SDM and DM,” he claimed.