Environmental effects of river sand mining: a case from
#0183;#32;Rivers in the southwest coast of India are under immense pressure due to various kinds of human activities among which indiscriminate extraction of construction grade sand is the most disastrous one. The situation is rather alarming in the rivers draining the Vembanad lake catchments as the area hosts one of the fast developing urbancumindustrial centre, the Kochi city, otherwise called the