Sand theft or unauthorised or illegal sand mining leads to a generally unknown global example of natural and non-renewable resource depletion problem comparable in extent to global water scarcity.[1][2][3] Beach theft is illegal removal of large quantities of sand from a beach leading to full or partial disappearance of the beach. In India, illegal sand mining is the country's largest organized criminal activity.[4]
Sand has by now become the most widely consumed natural resource on the planet after fresh water