India, Jan. 18 -- For now, the canoes lie still. Since January 11, 2026, boats allegedly used for illegal sand mining at Pawan Wada in Querim have been hauled ashore, bringing a hush to a stretch of the Terekhol river long scarred by nocturnal extraction. Villagers are cautiously hopeful but few believe the silence will last. Sand mining at Pawan Wada has continued for years despite being banned by the Bombay High Court (Goa Bench) in PIL WP No. 14 of 2018, in a judgment delivered on December 12, 2019, by Justices M.S. Jawalkar and M.S. Sonak. According to local resident Mahadev Shirodkar, mining operations ran brazenly from 2 am till dusk. On December 26, 2025, Shirodkar wrote to the secretary of the Que-rim Village Panchayat, formally c...