NEW DELHI,: The Supreme Court on Saturday held that Environmental Clearance (EC) for sand mining projects cannot be granted unless a replenishment study assessing the river’s annual natural recovery capacity is conducted.
A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and A.S. Chandurkar ruled that replenishment data is a mandatory prerequisite for granting ECs, in addition to the District Survey Report (DSR). The Court noted that the DSRs in the present case were “fundamentally defective” as they lacked replenishment studies, rendering them legally untenable. Accordingly, it dismissed a batch of appeals and upheld the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) decision quashing ECs for sand mining in three blocks of Jammu and Kashmir.
Drawing a parallel with timber harvesting, the Court said:
“Just as forest conservation requires assessing the rate of tree growth before felling, a replenishment study helps determine whether sand mining can be permitted without disturbing the river’s ecological balance. A DSR is valid only if supported by a proper replenishment study.”
The Court stressed the urgency of such studies, citing the rapid rise in construction activity and the projected global shortage of construction-grade sand by 2050. It observed that sand mining, even under controlled conditions, adversely impacts rivers—causing bed widening, lowering of riverbeds, erosion, and loss of biodiversity across aquatic and floodplain ecosystems. Sustainable mining, the bench said, demands scientific studies, including replenishment assessments, before granting clearances.
“Without a proper study of the riverbed’s sustainability, granting ECs would harm the ecology. A replenishment report must form an integral part of the DSR, which in turn serves as the foundation for considering EC applications,” the Court emphasized.
Background of the Case
The appeals were filed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Union Territory of J&K and Ladakh, challenging the NGT’s order that invalidated ECs due to DSRs lacking replenishment data.
Upholding the NGT’s findings, Justice Narasimha, authoring the judgment, said:
“The J&K EAC committed a grave error in proceeding with a DSR that was not compliant with MoEF&CC’s 2016 and 2020 Sand Mining Guidelines and lacked complete replenishment data.”
The Court also criticized the J&K Environment Impact Assessment Authority (EIAA) for “compromising regulatory integrity” by granting ECs based on incomplete reports, and for attempting to justify clearances through “restricted mining depth” and production limits despite missing replenishment data.
“This is a clear case of regulatory failure,” the bench remarked, before dismissing the civil appeals of the UT of J&K, the NHAI, and the project proponent.
