Shillong: Welcoming the decision of the Supreme Court allowing it to mine limestone in Meghalaya, French cement giant Lafarge on Wednesday said it would resume its operation on the basis of the details of the judgement delivered.
"he decision will not only help us put our mining quarry at Nongtrai in Meghalaya back on track, but also secure livelihoods of thousands of people on both sides of the border," Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt Ltd (LUMPL) said in a statement.
A Special Forest Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia, allowed the plea of Lafarge to mine limestone in the forests of East Khasi hills in the state.
The apex court also upheld the revised environmental clearance given to Lafarge by the Ministry of Environment and Forest.
The apex court had on February 5, 2010, stopped Lafarge from carrying out limestone mining in Meghalaya for its cement plant, saying mining in the environmentally-sensitive zone could not be allowed.
People of Shella village, who claim to be in the radius of the mines, were opposing the revised clearance given by the MOEF.
The $ 255 million Lafarge Surma Cement project at Chhatak in Bangladesh is wholly dependent on limestone extracted from the East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya.
Limestone is transported from the Meghalaya project to Bangladesh via a 17 km-long conveyor belt. The mining operations were suspended for nearly two years due to the case in the apex court.
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