NEW DELHI: After a prolonged battle and behind-the-scene diplomatic efforts by several countries, the Supreme Court on Wednesday gave French cement giant Lafarge permission to resume mining of limestone in mineral-rich Meghalaya, rejecting stiff opposition from the locals and environmentalists.
The court decision comes as good news for Lafarge’s $255-million cement plant in neighbouring Bangladesh that is wholly dependent on limestone mined by the French company at Nongtrai in Shella in East Khasi Hills.
In February 2010, the court halted Lafarge from extracting limestone for the Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd plant at Chhatak in Bangladesh, saying mining could not be allowed in the environmentally sensitive zone.
But the Environment Ministry told the court in April it had cleared the mining project with strict conditions.
“We are satisfied with the MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forest) as it has taken a due diligent exercise,” the Supreme Court observed in its ruling.
The Government initially cleared the export of limestone from Meghalaya to Bangladesh in 2000.
Limestone is transported from Meghalaya to the Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt Ltd in Bangladesh by a 17-kilometre conveyor belt.
Lafarge has said it is bringing “advanced technologies for scientific mining and sustainable development” to the poverty-hit region that will minimise any impact on the environment.
Activists in Meghalaya have opposed the limestone mining, saying it will hurt the area’s fragile eco-system.
The Dhaka government had been pushing India to allow resumption of the limestone mining for the Chhatak plant which holds close to a 10 per cent share of Bangladesh’s cement market. The court decision comes as India has been seeking to boost ties with Bangladesh with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh slated to visit Dhaka in September. Lafarge has a long-term agreement to extract limestone from East Khasi Hills and supply it to its Bangladesh plant for cement production.
The court had on May 10 reserved its judgement after hearing all the parties over the revised environmental clearance given to Lafarge for mining in the forest. The apex court had on February 5, 2010, stopped Lafarge from carrying out limestone mining in Nongtrai, saying mining in the environmentally-sensitive zone could not be allowed.
The MoEF had given revised environmental clearance to Lafarge last April on directions of the Supreme Court after finding the mining project fell in forest land.
A section of people of Shella village, who claim to be in the radius of the mines, are opposing the revised clearance given by the MoEF.
Lafarge is defending its case on the basis of the DFO’s report on the project on June 30, 2000, stating that it was waste land and there was no forest there. On April 24, the ministry told the Supreme Court that it had cleared the mining project of Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt Ltd, a sister concern of the French major, with strict riders.
The MoEF’s revised clearance came after the apex court on April 12 directed it to take a final decision on the 116-hectare limestone mine area.