After all, Tang Wentai was only familiar with the staff of several law enforcement units on the river, and couldn't really speak to leaders like Director Tang or Deputy Director Zeng.

The branch office had Shi Shengyong, Wang Chuanwei, and the eldest apprentice brother among others, so the branch's work did not require his concern.

The current issue was that a new situation had arisen on the river, and the affairs at home were also headache-inducing.

One must distinguish between public and private matters; first, think about how to solve the issues on the river.

Han Yu took a ride on the Port Supervision Third Team's Supervision Boat to patrol the river, then hurried back to the office on the second floor of the Command Center's Dunship to make a call to the city leaders.

"Mayor Shen, the issue of sand mining on the river is very serious. I rode the Supervision Boat from Sanhe construction site to Lang Mountain, and in just this short thirty-five kilometer stretch of waterway, there are six sand mining boats operating in the river!"

"Was it like this before?"

"Our section of the waterway has more silt than sand. There used to be sand mining boats, but not as many as now. Initially, I thought it was the Waterway Section or the Waterway Engineering Bureau dredging the waterway. It wasn't until I asked yesterday morning that I realized it wasn't them."

What does sand mining in the river have to do with Linghai...

Deputy Mayor Shen, confused, signaled Tang Wentai, who had come to report, to wait for a moment, then raised the phone and asked, "Someone is sand mining on the river, does it affect our port engineering construction?"

"It has a huge impact, not just on construction!"

"What kind of impact?"

Deputy Mayor Shen really did not understand these things, and after thinking for a while, said, "The Yangtze River waterway is already quite shallow. Using your words, although it's supposed to maintain a depth of nine meters, it's actually only eight meters fifty. If someone is willing to come here and mine sand, helping us deepen the waterway a bit, that's not a bad thing."

Han Yu urgently said, "Mayor Shen, it's not as simple as you think. Their mining is chaotic; wherever there's more mud and sand, they will mine. A sand mining boat can extract thousands of tons of sand in a day, and the separated mud is sprayed everywhere. It not only severely affects the safety of navigation but also directly threatens the safety of the levees!"

"It affects the river levees?"

"Mayor Shen, why do you think our investment in building the port in Linghai is greater than that on the opposite shore? It's because of the hydrology and water conditions, as the North Bank is prone to collapse. With their disorderly sand mining like this, it's essentially undercutting our river levees."

"Could it lead to the collapse of the river levees and affect flood prevention?"

"Yes, I've participated in flood prevention many times and seen many hydrology experts. I'm not being alarmist!"

Port Supervision Bureau's Third Team had many people, and their own Dunship had been "occupied" by them, leaving only the police duty room beside the corridor on the first floor for Ma Jintao, Yang Yong, Yang Yuan, and police officers like Old Jiang from the branch office to stand guard.

For now, Han Yu could only work in the office of the Deputy Commander at the Linghai Port Engineering Command's Dunship. After all, Deputy Mayor Shen, who also served as Deputy Commander, seldom came.

Han Yu opened the window and looked at the rolling river outside, then continued, "Mining on the side close to the levees threatens the dykes. If we let them mine chaotically and excessively within the waterway, it will lead to a lot of deep pits in what was originally a flat waterway."

Deputy Mayor Shen pressed on with questions: "Then what?"

"A lot of deep pits on the riverbed will create whirlpools, threatening the safety of navigation!"

Han Yu took several deep breaths and added, "When I patrolled on the Supervision Boat, I called the Fishery Station. An engineer at the Fishery Station said that their way of sand mining would destroy the habitat that Yangtze River's aquatic life depends on. When they turn on the sand suction pumps, it's like a giant vacuum cleaner. It will not only suck away the river sand but also the small fish, shrimp, and aquatic plants at the bottom, destroying the ecosystem of this area!"

Deputy Mayor Shen had not realized the dangers of sand mining were this severe and asked, "So what can be done?"

"Ningning contacted the Port Supervision Bureau Legal Department, and they said they could only oversee whether the staff on the sand mining boats have certifications and whether they violate maritime laws and regulations. They have no authority over the act of sand mining."

"What about the Fishery Administration?"

"The Fishery Administration said those people were only mining sand and not fishing, so they also have no right to intervene."

"What about water resources?"

"Ningning is contacting the Water Resources Commission to see if they have authority."

"What do you think?"

"Their frenzied sand mining has already seriously endangered the safety of the river levees and involves flood prevention, no small matter. The water is rising, and we're about to enter the flood season. What if the river levees collapse? I think the city can definitely make a local regulation. As long as there is a regulation, I will have a legitimate cause to take action!"

"Salted Fish, we are a county-level city. The Binjiang City People's Congress and the City Government don't have legislative power."

"I'm not talking about legislation, I'm talking about whether the city can issue a regulation."

"It's not as simple as you think. Not just Linghai, even the Binjiang City People's Congress and City Government are unlikely to issue the regulation you need. Because this is not only about legislative power, but also about jurisdiction."

"Jurisdiction..."

"The mainline of the Yangtze River is under the purview of the Yangtze Navigation Bureau. Even though we have tens of kilometers of the Yangtze River coastline, we have to get approval from the Yangtze Navigation Bureau and the Yangtze River Channel Bureau for the use of the shoreline and the establishment of dedicated waterways. Do you think we can issue regulations to govern things in their jurisdiction?"

The matter of whether the river levees will collapse is not a small issue.

Deputy Mayor Shen thought for a moment, then said, "But what you just said is important. Hurry up and prepare a written report, so I can report it to Secretary Ye and Mayor Qian. However, don't have too high hopes for the city's response, because this issue is not something that can be solved by any district, any prefecture-level city, or any department."

"Nobody's in charge?"

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