National Green Tribunal
Haripad Manna vs District Collector Balasore on 8 February, 2022
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
EASTERN ZONE BENCH,
KOLKATA
............
ORIGINAL APPLICATION No. 63/2020/EZ
IN THE MATTER OF:
1. Haripada Manna,
S/o Late Paresh Chandra Manna,
Aged about 48 years,
R/o Sekhsarai, P.O.-Chalanti,
P.S. Jaleswar, Distric-Balasore,
Odisha - 756032,
2. Uttam Das,
S/o Bansidhar Das,
Aged bout 29 years,
R/o Mahamad Nagar Patna,
P.S.-Jaleswar, District-Baleswar,
Odisha - 756032,
....Applicant(s)
Versus
1. District Collector, Balasore,
At/Po/Dist-Balasore, Odisha
Pin - 758001,
2. Tahasildar, Basta,
At/Po-Basta, District-Balasore,
3. Tehsildar, Jaleswar,
At/Po-Jaleswar, District-Balasore,
Pin - 756001,
4. Member Secretary,
Odisha State Pollution Control Board,
a/118, Unit-VII, Nilakantha Nagar,
Bhubaneswar - 751012,
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5. Member Secretary,
State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA),
Odisha,
5RF-2/1, Acharya Vihar, Unit-IX,
Bhubaneswar - 751022,
6. Mining Officer, Baripada Circle,
Baripada - 757001,
7. Secretary, Water Resource Department, Govt. of Odisha,
Lok Seva Bhawan, Sachivalaya Marg,
Bhubaneswar, Odisha,
Pin - 751001,
8. Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management Department,
Govt. of Odisha,
Lok Seva Bhawan, Sachivalaya Marg,
Bhubaneswar, Odisha,
Pin - 751001,
9. The Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change (MoEF&CC),
Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jorbagh Road,
New Delhi - 110003,
10. The Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board,
Parivesh Bhawan, East Arjun Nagar,
Delhi - 110032,
....Respondent(s)
COUNSEL FOR APPLICANT:
Mr. Sankar Prasad Pani, Advocate
COUNSEL FOR RESPONDENTS :
Mr. S.K. Nayak, AGA for Respondent Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 & 8,
Mr. Dipanjan Ghosh, Advocate for R-4,
Mr. Gora Chand Roy Choudhury, Advocate for R-5,
Mr. Soumitra Mukherjee, Advocate for R-9,
Mr. Surendra Kumar, Advocate for R-10,
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JUDGMENT
PRESENT:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE B. AMIT STHALEKAR (JUDICIAL MEMBER) HON'BLE MR. SAIBAL DASGUPTA (EXPERT MEMBER) __________________________________________________________________ Reserved On:- 02nd February, 2022 Pronounce On:-08th February, 2022 __________________________________________________________________
1. Whether the Judgment is allowed to be published on the net? Yes
2. Whether the Judgment is allowed to be published in the NGT Reporter? Yes JUSTICE B. AMIT STHALEKAR (JUDICIAL MEMBER) The Applicant has filed this Original Application, challenging the auction of sand mining in the Dhitapura sand mining area in Subarnarekha river. The allegation in the Original Application is that sand mining which has been earmarked in the said auction is disturbing the Subarnarekha river's ecology and is in violation of the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines 2016 and Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining 2020. It is further alleged that the sand mining is being auctioned in violation of the guidelines laid down in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Notification dated 28.07.2018 and the EIA Notification Amendment dated 01.01.2016. It is also stated that no final District Survey Report (in short 'DSR') has been prepared for District-Balasore, Odisha, where the auction of sand mining is proposed and the existing mining leases for MD Nagar Patna, being four in number, namely, 6.000 hectares for (Ka); 5.665 hectares (14 acres) for (Kha); 5.665 hectares (14 acres) for (Ga); and 5.261 3 hectares (13 acres) for (Gha), which are in cluster having a total area of 22.4 hectares.
2. The grounds of challenge noted by the Tribunal in its order dated 02.11.2020 are as follows:-
"i. The DSR is said to be in Interim Report as mentioned in the conclusion part of the report for which the same cannot be relied for taking any final decision in respect of any auction of minor mineral as the DSR is mandatory prior to auction.
ii. The report does not identify the feasible mining sites, deposition site, erosion prone sites and sites of ecological importance. More importantly this report without any ground survey and site visit by the members of District Level Expert Committee has not been conducted prior to preparation of report.
iii. The DSR is not in accordance with the Sustainable Sand Mining Guideline 2016 and 2020 and in utter disregard to the very objective of the sustainable sand mining.
iv. The DSR so prepared is a sham and fraud on the statute and it is for name shake to escape from the rigors of law.
v. The report is not based on ground realities and no joint field visit has been carried out by the Water Resource Department, Mining Department and Tahasildar to assess the ground situation and the same is mandatory prior to the report. The report is signed by District Collector, Balasore but do not disclose about the members who have prepared this report and whose inputs and expert opinions were considered for preparing the report. The applicant has information that the report is prepared by one 4 consultant without any filed visit and same is evident from the report also and for that the report cannot be accepted.
vi. No replenishment study has been carried out to understand the replenishment rate of Sand Mining Sources which is mandatory to arrest over exploitation and illegal sand mining.
vii. Only Mahamadnagar Patna Cluster is having more than 20 hectares of area where as the cluster should have been below 10 hectares as per the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines 2016 and 2020, hence same is not compatible and consistent with the guideline.
viii. The minimum distance of 2.5Km between two clusters have also not been followed while preparing the list of sand mining leases and the same is evident between Mahamad Nagarpatna and SekhSarai cluster and Benapura.
ix. Subarnarekha River is highly dynamic and River Bank Erosion observed at many places. Mechanical Sand Mining and Wooden Bridges in the river to facilitate the sand mining transportation has damaged the embankment but same were not considered while preparing the DSR to identify the vulnerable and erosion prone sites.
x. Comparative analysis of the Google Earth image clearly reveals that the mechanical and aggressive sand mining has changed the course of river stream, the lease granted are not the deposition area but the erosion area.
xi. Mining activity in zone of erosion can further aggravate the problem of erosion and as such the mining activity can be allowed only in the zone of the deposition. However this aspect has not been considered while preparing the DSR.
xii. In fact earlier reports of Irrigation department apprehending the damages to embankment were being ignored. Further the report prepared without any 5 consultation with the riparian stakeholders including local inhabitants and irrigation department."
3. The Tribunal also constituted a Committee comprising of the following Members:-
(i) The Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change at Bhubaneswar; and
(ii) The District Magistrate, Balasore District.
4. The Tribunal in its order dated 18.06.2021 also noted the averments of paragraph 17 of the Original Application, wherein it was alleged that mining lease has been granted under the auction notice dated 01.06.2020 for a period of five years for mining of sand in Dhitapura Mouza, Khata No. 97, Plot No. 214 over an area of 12.5 acres and this area in Dhitapura is not covered by the District Survey Report as uploaded in the District's website.
5. By another order dated 06.07.2021, the Tribunal noted the contents of the Committee's report (filed at page no. 92 of the paper book), wherein it is unanimously agreed that the District Survey Report needs to be supplemented with additional information with regard to inclusion of the provisions and inclusion of the guidelines with respect to Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines, 2016 and Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining, 2020 issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It also mentions that these principles are to be enforced with the new sand mining leases which are to be auctioned by the District Administration retrospectively. The relevant extract of the 6 Committee's report at page no. 92 of the paper book under the heading of "Conclusion" is extracted herein below:-
"Conclusion:
It is unanimously agreed that the DSR report needs to be supplemented with additional information with regard to inclusion of the provisions and inclusion of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with respect to sustainable sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2020. These principles are to be enforced with the new sand mining lessees which are to be auctioned by the District Administration prospectively. Other points may be incorporated are mentioned below:
1. All the guidelines and procedures mentioned in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Notification vide S.O. 141 (E) dated 15th January, 2016 on minor minerals are to be adhered to including the procedures for monitoring of sand mining of river bed mining on the use of Information Technology may be adopted for monitoring the quantity of sand extracted and transported on daily basis. The vehicles transporting sand and minerals may be fixed with electronic devices along with GPS locations facilitating and tracking movement of vehicles.
2. The Sub-Divisional Committee consisting of Sub-
Collector; SDO, Irrigation Division; Regional Officer, State Pollution Control Board; Range Officer (Forest Department) & Mining Officer to include District Informatic Officer, NIC for effective Monitoring of minor mineral activities & transportation of Minor Minerals. The said Multi Disciplinary Committee shall review the mining of minor minerals on a monthly basis and take necessary action as per need and also recommend measures for improvement.
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3. The details on mining of various minor minerals carried out during the month may be uploaded in the District web portal on monthly basis."
Mr. S.K. Nayak, learned Additional Govt. Advocate, State of Odisha, also informed the Tribunal that the final District Survey Report (DSR) has already been uploaded on the District Web Portal, copy of which has been filed by the Respondent No.2, Tehsildar- Basta, District-Balasore, Odisha, with his affidavit dated 17.07.2021.
6. Perusing the District Survey Report prepared for the District- Balasore, Odisha, the Tribunal in its order dated 17.09.2021 noted that at pages 152-153 and pages 170-171, 172, 179, 180, 182 and 183, several columns are left blank which have not been explained in the District Survey Report as to why they are lying blank. In the affidavit of 14.07.2021 in paragraphs 3 & 4, it has only been clarified that Kadrayan has been mentioned instead of Dhitapura which has subsequently been rectified at page no. 180, serial no. 6 of the District Survey Report. Thereupon, Mr. S.K. Nayak, Additional Govt. Advocate was granted six weeks time to file his counter-affidavit along with fresh District Survey Report for District-Balasore, Odisha.
7. A reply dated 01.07.2021 to the Inspection Report of the District Collector-Balasore, Odisha has also been filed by the Applicants. With regard to the prayer of the Applicants for stay of auction notice dated 20.09.2021 and all consequential actions pursuant to the auction notice as prayed through I.A. No. 8 98/2021/EZ filed by the Applicant, Mr. S. K. Nayak, Additional Govt. Advocate, stated before the Court that the said auction notice dated 20.09.2021 had been cancelled by the State Government and the matter has been returned to the District-Collector, Balasore, Odisha. In view of this statement, the I.A. No. 98/2021/EZ was dismissed by the Tribunal by its order dated 10.12.2021.
8. In the Inspection Report of an inspection carried out on 03.12.2020 in compliance of the order of the Tribunal dated 02.11.2020, the Committee has made certain observations and recommendations which are reproduced herein and read as under:-
"THE OBSERVATIONS OF THE TEAM ARE AS FOLLOWS:-
1. Sand mining activity, especially extraction of sand, has been going on at one lease area pertaining to MAHAMMADNAGARPATANA SAND SAIRAT (Ga) out of the total four sources. The mining was done manually and tractors were seen to be deployed for transportation of extracted sand materials.
2. No mining activity was observed at other sites where sand mining leases have been provided at Mahammadnagarpatana i.e. Ka, Kha, Gha.
3. It was observed that temporary kuchha roads have been constructed on the river beds for transport of tractors and other vehicles transporting extracted sand.
Those were found to have been constructed without prior permission from the District Administration.
4. At many places, it was also observed that temporary bridges were constructed over hume pipes (allowing river water to flow through) to facilitate movement of transporting vehicles.
5. The debris generated by the dismantling of wooden bridges was still lying over the river bed.
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6. A number of broken earthen bricks are seen dumped on the river bank. These have been dumped for utilizing the same in making roads for easy movements of the transporting vehicles.
RECOMMENDATIONS:-
1. All the debris found lying on the river bank needs to be removed.
2. The constructed temporary kutcha roads on the river bed to be stopped and all the earthen bricks lying on the river banks to be removed.
3. It has been observed that there are many hume pipes lying in the path of the river flow. These needs to be removed to facilitate free flow of river water.
4. All the debris removed from the river banks may be utilized for stabilizing the river bank and checking erosion.
5. Efforts may be made for raising plantations on the river bank to check erosion and also stabilizing soil.
9. Based on the directions of the Tribunal in its order dated 02.11.2020, the Committee comprising of the District Magistrate, Balasore, Odisha and the Scientist of the Integrated Regional Office, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhubaneswar, has also submitted a point-wise reply to the allegations made in the Original Application which reads as under:-
1. With regard to the allegation of the Applicants that the District Survey Report is an 'Interim Report', the Committee has noted that the procedure for preparation of District Survey Report has been duly followed at Sub-
Divisional Level and District Level and, therefore, the term 'Interim Report' is not applicable in this case and the same has been used erroneously in the petition. It is also stated that the Draft District Survey Report (DDSR) for sand 10 mining in respect of Balasore District has been prepared after receiving the recommendation of the Sub-Divisional Level Committees which were formed as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India, vide their Notification dated 25.07.2018. At the same time, it is also stated that the mention of 'Interim Report' in the 'CONCLUSION' para of the District Survey Report uploaded on the web portal means that updation of District Survey Report shall allowed time to time following due procedures if new sources are identified and found feasible.
2. With regard to the allegation of the Applicants that the report does not identify the feasible mining sites, deposition site, erosion prone and sites of ecological importance, the Committee has noted that the allegations are not true. The Sub-Divisional Committees have conducted field visit in respect of all Potential Minor Mineral Sairat Sources in their jurisdiction and recommended to the District Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA) for necessary inclusion in the District Survey Report and after getting recommendation from the Sub-Divisional Committees, the DEIAA, Balasore, decided to include the Minor Mineral sairat sources in the District Survey Report.
3. With regard to the allegation of the Applicants that the District Survey Report is not in accordance with the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines 2016 and 2020, all that has been stated by the Committee is that the District Survey Report has been prepared as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change dated 25.07.2018 and 2020 and due procedures have been flowed.
However, what are those procedures have not been mentioned by the Committee.
4. With regard to the allegation of the Applicants that non-conducting of replenishment study, the Committee 11 has stated that since all mine leases which have been granted by the District Collector in the year 2015-16 would be expiring in December, 2020, it is considered that the proposal for carrying out a study on replenishment of the sand in the river Subarnarekha for the purpose of scientific sand mining on its river bed, would be sent to the appropriate agency.
This itself is reflective of the fact that no replenishment study has been carried out otherwise it would have been noted by the Committee.
5. With regard to the allegation of the Applicants that clusters are more than 20 hectares of the area whereas they should not exceed 10 hectares as per the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines 2016 and 2020, the Committee has stated that the sand mining in the Subarnarekha river bed at Jaleswar in the year 2015- 16 were individual mining leases and not clusters.
6. With regard to the allegation of the Applicants that between two clusters the mining distance of 2.5 kilometers has not been observed, the Committee has noted that the distance between two mining leases varied from 80 meters to 150 meters and the mine leases were granted prior to the issuance of the Guidelines by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The Committee again has not addressed itself to the guidelines laid down in the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change Notification dated 25.07.2018 which provides for a distance of minimum 2.5 kilometers between two clusters and does not enough to say that the previous mining leases were granted prior to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Notification dated 25.07.2018.
7. With regard to the allegation of the Applicants that Subarnarekha river is highly dynamic and river 12 bank erosion observed at many places and mechanical sand mining and wooden bridges in the river have been noticed to facilitate sand mining and transportation, the Committee has noted that there were stray incidents of heavy vehicles for loading and transporting of extracted sand and the Tehsildar Jaleswar has seized the vehicles and imposed penalty. It is also stated that between 18.05.2020 to 02.12.2020, the office of the Tehsildar-Jaleswar has conducted about 140 raids in which Rs. 26,22,995 has been collected as royalty and penalty from the seized vehicles.
8. With regard to the allegation of the Applicants that mining activity in the zone of erosion can further aggravate the problem, the Committee has noted that the District Survey Report for sand mining has been prepared after getting recommendation from District Expert Appraisal Committee (DEAC), Balasore and Sub-Divisional Committees which have been included in the District Survey Report by the District Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA), and the allegation is, therefore, fallacious.
9. With regard to the allegation of the Applicants that earlier reports of Irrigation Department apprehending the damages to embankment were being ignored, has been denied stating therein that there is no such apprehension and during field visit of the Sub- Divisional Committees, the officials of the Irrigation Department were present to assess feasibility of sources.
10. A reply dated 01.07.2021 has been filed by the Applicants to the Inspection Report, stating that the contents of the Report are contrary to the record and the allegations in the Original Application have been reiterated. It is also stated that the District Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA), Balasore, is 13 not functioning in view of the orders passed by the Tribunal dated 14.10.2020 passed in Original Application No. 40/2020/EZ (Pawan Kumar Vs. State of Bihar & Ors.) and in Satendra Pandey and, therefore, any approval by the DEIAA, Balsore, is wholly irrelevant and is a sham exercise. Along with this Report, the Applicants have also filed the Minutes of the 37th Meeting of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, held on 16.10.2020, 21.10.2020 and 22.10.2020 as Annexure-11 to the reply, which shows that the 4 (four) Environmental Clearances have been granted for (1) Dhitapura Sand Quarry, over an area of 12.35 acres or 5.00 ha. at Village-Dhitapura, Tahasil-Basta, District-Balasore; (2) Ambakuruchi Sand Quarry, over an area 7.40 acres or 2.99 ha. at Village-Ambakuruchi, Tahasil-Basta, District-Balasore; (3) Devog Sand Quarry, over an area of 12.35 acres or 5.00 ha. at Village- Devog, Tahails-Basta, District-Balasore; and (4) Kandara-II Stone Quarry, over an area of 3.38 acres or 1.37 ha. at village Kandara-II, Tahasil-Barbil, District-Keonjhar.
11. An affidavit dated 14.07.2021 has been filed on behalf of the Respondent Nos. 1 & 2, State Respondents, Govt. of Odisha, wherein it is clarified that the District Survey Report in favour of Dhitpura Sand Source of Mouza-Dhitpura, Khata No. 97, Plot No. 214 over an area 12.5 acres has wrongly been mentioned as Kadrayan whereas it should be Dhitpura, the copy of the District Survey Report has also been filed as annexure to the affidavit. 14
12. A counter-affidavit dated 06.12.2021 has also been filed by the Collector & District Magistrate, Balasore, Odisha, and the stand of the Respondents therein is that the previous sand mining leases belonging to village Mahamadnagarpatna, namely, Mahamadnagarpatna 'Ka', 'Kha', 'Ga' and 'Gha' were granted in the year 2015 through auction and are prior to the coming into force of the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines 2018 and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Notification dated 25.07.2018. However, it is also stated that the District Survey Report of Balasore District, Odisha, has been prepared and uploaded on the District Web Portal on 31.12.2019. Annexure A-3 (at page no. 194 of the paper book), which has been filed along with this affidavit, is the proceedings of the Joint Meeting for preparation of District Survey Report for all Minor Minerals Sairat Sources held on 11.09.2019 in the Collectorate of Balasore.
13. We may refer to the 'Conclusion' (at page no. 222 of the paper book) already reproduced herein above, wherein it is mentioned that this is an 'Interim Report.'
14. An affidavit dated 01.02.022 has been filed on behalf of the Respondent No.5, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha. The relevant paragraph 3 of this affidavit is reproduced herein and reads as under:-
"3. That, as regards to the averments made in para 5 of O.A. 63/2020 order on dt. 10.12.2021 it is humbly submitted that based on the Hon'ble NGT order of O.A. 360/2015-NGT Bar Association Vrs. Virendra Singh (State 15 of Gujarat) & O.A. No. 173/2018, Sudarshan Das Vrs. State of West Bengal on sustainable sand mining activities, the Director, Env-cum Special Secretary to Govt., Govt. of Odisha had issued a letter to the Principal Secretary Revenue & DM Department, Govt. of Odisha regarding to intimate and instruction all the collectors to complete District Survey Report (DSR) of all the districts, duly examined by DEIAA to SEIAA for its approval. The Additional District Magistrate, Balasore had submitted the DSRs copies (soft copies) of Balasore District vide their letter no. 449 dated 15.01.20212 to SEIAA, Odisha for appraisal by SEAC and SEIAA for approval. Accordingly, the soft copies of DSR forwarded to SEAC, Odisha vide letter n o. 3943/SEIAA, dt. 28.01.2022 for appraisal which is under process and that may be finalized within four (04) weeks."
15. We have heard Mr. Sankar Prasad Pani, learned Counsel for the Applicants as well as Mr. S.K. Nayak, Mr. Dipanjan Ghosh, Mr. Gora Chand Roy Choudhury, Mr. Soumitra Mukherjee, & Mr. Surendra Kumar, learned Counsel for the Respondents and perused the documents on record.
16. The learned Counsel for the Applicants has reiterated the allegations made in the Original Application, particularly referring to the grounds raised in the Original Application which have already been noted by the Tribunal in its order dated 02.11.2020. He further submits that the District Survey Report of Balasore District is only an 'Interim Report'.
17. The learned Counsel for the Respondents have referred to the District Survey Report which has been filed with their affidavits and submit that even though the Committee constituted by the Tribunal 16 has also mentioned in its 'Conclusion' that it is an 'Interim Report' but that is not so and, in fact, the District Survey Report is a final District Survey Report and it is mentioned as an 'Interim Report' only because it is required to be updated from time to time based on additional material as may become available from time to time as the Report itself states.
18. The 'Conclusion' of the Committee Report when read with the averments of paragraph 3 of the affidavit filed by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, dated 01.02.2022, hardly leaves any doubt that it is actually an 'Interim Report' only and is not a final District Survey Report. This is so because the affidavit of SEIAA, Odisha, itself clearly indicates that the Additional District Magistrate, District-Balasore, had submitted copies of the District Survey Report of Balasore District vide his letter no. 449 dated 15.01.2022 (copy of which has been filed at page no. 7 of the affidavit), which itself mentions that the same has been submitted to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, for appraisal by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), Odisha, and for approval by State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA). The letter dated 15.01.2022 also mentions that the District Survey Reports on Minor Minerals were prepared early and have been examined by the District Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA), Balasore, and have been submitted for necessary perusal and approval at the level of State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, and the affidavit of State Environment 17 Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, also clearly indicates that the soft copies of the said District Survey Report was forwarded to the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), Odisha, vide letter no. 3943/SEIAA dated 28.01.2022 is still pending appraisal process and may be finalized within four weeks.
19. In our view, since the District Survey Report has not yet been apprised by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), Odisha nor has it been approved by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, the said District Survey Report for District-Balasore, Odisha, cannot be a foundation for auction of mining leases till such appraisal and approval has been obtained from the said authorities.
20. We, therefore, allow this Original Application with a direction to the Respondent No.5, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, in coordination with State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), Odisha, to examine the District Survey Report for Balasore District, Odisha, as submitted by the Additional District Magistrate, Balasore, vide his letter no. 449 dated 15.01.2022 and the Environmental Scientist, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, vide his letter no. 3943/SEIAA dated 28.01.2022 and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law within a period of one month.
21. Until such order is passed by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha, we direct that all processes of auctioning in respect of sand mining in the District-Balasore, 18 Odisha, shall remain stayed and shall be subject to any order which may be passed by State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Odisha.
22. There shall be no order as to costs.
........................................ B. AMIT STHALEKAR, JM ........................................ SAIBAL DASGUPTA, EM Kolkata, February 08, 2022, Original Application No. 63/2020/EZ AK 19