Replenishment Study has been submitted and duly considered by State Expert Appraisal Committee and approved by SEIAA, Odisha. In Haripad Manna case (supra) this Tribunal has already recorded a finding that the District Collector, Balasore, has in his own letter dated 30.05.2024 admitted that no Replenishment Study has been carried out with regard to the sand sources along the stretch of the Subarnarekha River passing through the District Balasore. In the circumstances, we hold that no Environmental Clearance could have been granted by SEIAA, Odisha, to the Respondent No.8 in 2021 in the absence of a validity approved District Survey Report and, therefore, mining of sand from Sand Sairat Sources in the absence of a valid District Survey Report would be absolutely illegal and in violation of the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines, 2016 and Enforcement and Monitoring Guidelines, for Sand Mining, 2020. However, having said that we are of the view that the fault lay exclusively at the door of SEIAA, Odisha, which has acted in gross ignorance of and in gross violation of the Sand Mining Guidelines, 2016 & 2020 in granting Environmental Clearance to the Respondent No.8 and, therefore, in the circumstances, the Respondent No.8 cannot be held liable for having ‘illegally’ mined sand from the Rayanramchandrapur sand source on the basis of an illegally granted Environmental Clearance. It has not been alleged by the Applicant nor has it been established from the documents on record that the Respondent No.8 was acting in collusion with the Respondent-SEIAA, Odisha, by misrepresentation of documents, in obtaining Environmental Clearance from SEIAA, Odisha in absence of a valid District Survey Report (DSR) for District Balasore.
