A mandatory requirement

Assessment of a river's sand replenishment is now a legal requirement for obtaining environmental clearance to mine the resource

- VIVEK MISHRA

IT IS, therefore, compelling to hold that a DSR [district survey report] is valid and tenable only when a proper replenishment study is conducted.

" This line from a Supreme Court order, dated August 22, 2025, pertains to a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project in Jammu and Kashmir, and has ramifications on river mining activities across India.

The Supreme Court order means that scientific assessment of a river's sand replenishment is now a legal requirement, without which the government cannot grant a sand mining licence. This judge-ment is significant as the Supreme Court has reiterated the existing legal regime, according to which a replenishment study forms an integral part of the DSR. A DSR without replenishment study is therefore untenable," Srishti Agnihotri, advocate on record, Supreme Court, tells Down To Earth. Agnihotri assisted senior advocate Anitha Shenoy, who argued the case for Srinagar-based environmental activist Raja Muzaffar Bhat at the Supreme Court.