Tsongon Tsering has been arrested and detained in Khyungchu County for voicing a complaint against rock and sand mining in Tsaruma Village, Khyungchu County, Ngaba.

According to information received today from a reliable source, a native of Tsaruma Village, Khyungchu County, in Ngaba, Tsognon Tsering, recently published a video which appealed for attention and action towards the issue of ongoing rock and sand mining activities in the village on social media platforms. Although, along with him, several other people from the village were summoned for interrogation, the source informed us today that the other people returned home later, but Tsongon Tsering was held in detention in Khyungchu County.

The same source said, “ Tsongon Tsering has been arrested and detained. He remains in detention at Khyungchu County. Yet, his family and village people are hoping for him to be released as soon as possible. Maybe they will release him tomorrow or the day after.”

According to information received by the Tibet Times, on 22nd October, the Khyungchu County Police summoned and interrogated Tsongon Tsering and some people from the village at Khyungchu County. Even though the other people from the village were released, Tsering’s condition remains unclear. On top of that, the appeal video and voice messages published on his Kuaishou social media account have been restricted and deleted. His Kuaishou account (搓俄) does not appear when one searches for it.

Tsering published an almost five-minute video complaint on his Kuaishou account. In the video, he discussed in detail that from May 2023 onwards, the Anhui Xianhe Construction Engineering Company, while working on the construction of the new highway in Tsuruma village, began to engage in illegal rock and sand mining and transportation on the banks of Dhangchu River near the road. He further stressed that the large-scale mining and transportation have caused serious damage to the local ecology. Heavy sand mining has caused damage to the river and poses great danger to the local residential area.

The local Tibetans of Tsaruma village submitted photos and videos documenting and highlighting the damage caused to their residences in a legal complaint that they filed to the Tsaruma local government, the Khyunchu County Disciplinary Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Water Resources Department and other related government bodies of both Khyungchu county and Ngaba prefecture. Yet, none of the government bodies responded to the complaint.

In September 2023, the local people of Tsaruma filed the first legal complaint against Anhui Xianhe Construction Engineering Company. Even though, at that time, the Khyungchu Environmental Protection Agency investigated the damaged area, the results of the investigation and the subsequent findings were not publicised. From October to December 2023, the local people appealed to the Ngaba prefecture Water Resources Department to request clarification on the results of the investigation and the findings. They did not receive any response from the Department.

Recently, a source informed tibettimes that the issue of sand mining in Tsaruma village stems from the government-level construction projects in Ngaba prefecture. As such, even as it is a fact that the Anhui Xianhe Construction Engineering Company has illegally engaged in sand mining in Tsaruma, the prospect of the complaint filed by the local people of Tsaruma bearing any result remains very bleak. The source also voiced suspicions about the Company illegally mining for other minerals in the same area.

Tsering is currently 29 and the only son of Phurkho and Wangdon. His father, Phurko, is around 60 and Wangdon, his mother is around 50. Tsongon Tsering is someone who has always actively taking the responsibility of local and public issues.