Sand extractors from across Goa, who have been rendered jobless following a court order banning the activity, have now approached the state government seeking a legal way out.

Sand extractors have requested chief minister Digambar Kamat to treat their business as "dredging of river" and not "mining of sand".

"If you label the activity as dredging then it can continue without any legal hurdle. A similar model has been adopted in Maharashtra where certain section of rivers is given on auction for dredging from where sand is extracted," said NCP leader Jitendra Deshprabhu, who leads the sand extractors.

The delegation of extractors met Kamat yesterday with their solution.

The extractors stated that since May 14, when local administration seized their canoes and extraction equipments, they have been left jobless.

Kamat assured them that the state will find a solution to the issue within two days.

"I have asked them to give me two days. We will have to consult law department and (state) environment ministry," he told PTI.

Sand extractors, who have been mining in the river belt almost since Portuguese era, had faced a setback when the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Pernem directed police to investigate complaints of corruption against government authorities for not acting against those involved in illegal sand extraction in coastal regulation zone (CRZ) areas in Pernem taluka.

"We have been traditionally extracting sand from the river. Suddenly the order was forced on us without taking into account that stopping of sand extraction means all the construction activities in the state will be affected. There will be no development," Sand Extractors Association of Goa's spokesman Prakash Kambli said.

Goa government has given 59 licences to mine sand from three river beds -- Chapora (5), Mandovi (26) and Terekhol (28).

Another issue that makes extractors unhappy is the fact that in Terekhol river, which divides Goa and Maharashtra, there is ban on mining on Goa bank, while on its Maharashtra bank, the activity is going on unhindered.

"River basin is divided between both the states.

Maharashtra has allowed the extraction by terming it as dredging," Deshprabhu said.

Environmentalists in the past had raised concerns over sand mining, which had threatened the existence of three rivers in the state.

They had said that uncontrolled digging of the river bed was disastrous for villages, which have settled around the rivers.

Narayan Sopte Kerkar, an environmentalist and former police officer, who resides in Keri village where sand mining is rampant, had claimed that saline water had already started entering the village wells.

Kerkar, whose complaint to the JMFC has resulted in the current ban, further claimed that almost half of Keri village had submerged under water as the Terekhol river had changed its course due to sand extraction.

He had also alleged that sand bars were being destroyed in the greed to get more sand.