Opp leader alleges skewed selection of villages for Lafarge scheme

SHILLONG: Opposition Leader Donkupar Roy (UDP) has revealed discrepancies in the selection of villages under the scheme for developing sites which fall under mining areas of Lafarge Umiam Mining Limited.
Earlier, the government had formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Society to implement the schemes.
The amount deposited by Lafarge Umiam Mining Limited with the SPV for development of mining areas is over Rs 120 crore (Rs 120,68,08,200) out of which over Rs 34 crore (Rs 34,25,16,000) was spent.
During the Question Hour on Friday, Roy pointed out that though the villages falling within the Lafarge mining area is part of the project area of 50 km as per the ruling of the Supreme Court, the government has gone beyond the prescribed limit and included villages ignoring the nearby villages. “Some villages including Mawlyngbna which are 10 to 12 km away from the mining area were included for the scheme under SPV, whereas Ichamati which is just 8 km away was not included under the scheme,” Roy claimed.
In his reply, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said the matter would be re-examined.