NEW DELHI: Long before dawn, as the the city sleeps and the river is wrapped in fog, the Yamuna floodplain near Jagatpur village begins to stir. Around 4am, the first tractors appear, moving in pairs, then in threes, gliding silently over mud tracks. Some carry front loaders, others makeshift shovelling attachments. All head to the river's edge, upstream of Wazirabad. Stationed discreetly along the floodplain, TOI witnesses this movement firsthand. One by one, the tractors disappear into the darkness, only to re-emerge laden with sand, which locals say is quietly supplied to builders and traders. What unfolds over several hours suggests a well-oiled operation - locals say, it has revived after a three-year lull - carried out with startling ease despite repeated govt claims that no sand

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