Bhandara and respondent no.3- The District Mining Officer, Bhandara for undertaking sand mining at the Gudegaon Sand Ghat over an extent of 4.90 Ha. in the bed of River Wainganga, adjoining Gat Nos.150, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 189 & 190 of Village Gudegaon, Tehsil Pauni, Bhandara District in the State of Maharashtra, on the grounds that- (i) the District Survey Report in terms of the Notifications of the MoEF&CC dated 15.01.2016, as well as 25.07.2018 ought to form the basis for application of Environment Clearance, preparation of reports and appraisal of projects. As per the said notifications, the District Survey Report ought to be updated once every 5 years. In terms of the 2020 Guidelines, the Replenishment study forms a part of the District Survey Report. It is submitted that a replenishment study is required in order to nullify the adverse impacts arising due to excessing sand extraction. Mining within or near a riverbed has a direct impact on the stream’s physical characteristics, such as channel geometry, bed elevation, substratum composition and stability etc. Therefore, to minimize the adverse impact arising out of sand mining in a given river stretch, it is imperative to have a study of replenishment of material during the defined period. The 2020 Guidelines initially provides for a total of four surveys to be mandatorily carried out for a Replenishment Study, as follows:-
