Sand and Sustainability: A Review Paper

Sand is the most widely used natural resource after water. Due to Urbanization, an old saying 'Sand is slipping out of our fingers' seems to be true now. Various industries such as infrastructure development, filtration of water, plastics and electronics are widely consuming this resource. The rapid depletion of this valuable resource is contributing to climate change. It has drawn attention of various nations as well as United Nations. The authors tried to review the current situation of running out of the sand globally. The impact of extraction of sand and illegal exploitation of sand on the environment has been studied. The paper talks about how illegal sand dredging led to change in international boundaries around the globe. It also explains how sand is becoming the major cause behind geopolitical wars, (example: China Tiwan conflict). The loss of sand in coastal areas reflects the impact of climate change. The authors have made an attempt to draw the attention of all the stakeholders to take timely and appropriate actions such as prevention of illegal sand mining, strict enforcement of the laws, cooperation all over the world for the sustainable use of sand.