Chambal River

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Context:

Recently, the Madhya Pradesh government has proposed to open 292 hectares for mining in five stretches on Chambal and its tributary Parvati rivers.

The decision was made to relieve the forest department of the burden of spending too much time, money, and effort battling illegal mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary.
Since 2006, sand mining has been prohibited in the sanctuary.

Relevance:

GS III- Environment and Ecology

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The Chambal River is a tributary of the Yamuna River in central India, and thus forms part of the greater Gangetic drainage system.
The river flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, running for a time through Rajasthan, then forming the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before turning southeast to join the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh state.
The perennial Chambal originates at janapav, south of Mhow town, near manpur Indore, on the south slope of the Vindhya Range in Madhya Pradesh.
The Chambal and its tributaries drain the Malwa region of northwestern Madhya Pradesh, while its tributary, the Banas, which rises in the Aravalli Range, drains southeastern Rajasthan.
It ends a confluence of five rivers, including the Chambal, Kwari, Yamuna, Sind, Pahuj, at Pachnada near Bhareh in Uttar Pradesh state.
The Chambal River is considered pollution free, and hosts an amazing riverine faunal assemblage including 2 species of crocodilians – the mugger and gharial, 8 species of freshwater turtles, smooth-coated otters, gangetic river dolphins, skimmers, black-bellied terns, sarus cranes and black-necked storks, amongst others.

The National Chambal Sanctuary lies over Sheopur, Morena and Bhind districts of Madhya Pradesh, spread across a length of over 400 kilometers.
It is home to 75% population of the naturally living population of the Gharials.
These species are categorized under the Critically Endangered species of India.
The sanctuary also harbors national aquatic animal i.e. the freshwater dolphins, nine species of freshwater turtles and more than 180 species of migratory birds.
Located on the Chambal River near the tri-point of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, it was first declared in Madhya Pradesh in 1978, and now constitutes a long narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
Within the sanctuary, the pristine Chambal River cuts through mazes of ravines and hills with many sandy beaches.
The National Chambal Sanctuary is listed as an Important Bird Area (IBA) and is a proposed Ramsar site.

-Source: The Hindu