| dc.description.abstract | This article examines the dynamics of power relations in the Brantas River sand mining and
its influences on the fate of the most important
river of East Java. By relying on archival
sources, contemporary newspapers, and oral
history interviews, it is argued that the Brantas
river crisis occurred due to the acceleration of
sand extractions facilitated by improved extraction
technology
in
the
form
of
mechanical and extracting machines and the growing emand for sand for infrastructure development.
Automated
sand
mining
caused
damage
to
infrastructure and settlements in various
places along the river from downstream areas
that continue to creep upstream, as well as the
loss of biodiversity richness. The search for a
solution has been going on for some time but
failed to stop mining and bring the Brantas
River out of the crisis. The failure occurred not
because of the absence of a legal protection,
but the difficulty of implementing regulations
in the field due to the involvement of unscrupulous
officials and politicians in the Brantas
sand business, as well as the temptation of
large and comfortable profits from mining that
lured sand miners amid the limited available
alternative sources of livelihood. | en_US |
