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| Locals support Lafarge plant in Meghalaya |
| Press Trust of India / Shillong Apr 08, 2010, 12:08 IST |
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A day after several prominent organisations opposed transfer of tribal land to Lafarge in Meghalaya, local villagers where the mines of the French cement giant are located came out in support saying they have been benefitted by the mining operations.
"Following the commencement of the Lafarge mining, the livelihood and income of locals have improved greatly. Lafarge has also undertaken several development works besides providing jobs to the locals," B Lyngdoh, headman of Nongtrai village where the cement company has its mines, said.
He argued that Lafarge started its operations in accordance with laid down regulations and agreements by the district authorities, state and central level. A fact-finding team, constituted by the Supreme Court, visited the limestone quarry on April 2-3 and were told about the benefits enjoyed by locals from the plant, the headman said.
Alleging that those opposed to the Lafarge plant are not residents of the area, Lyngdoh questioned, "if Lafarge closes down its plant, who will take care of the thousands of people who will face starvation?".
Representatives of several organisations, including the influential Khasi Students Union, had on Tuesday resolved unanimously that "tribal lands cannot be and should not be allowed at any cost to be transferred and mortgaged by any foreign company to any foreign bank."
"The Environment Impact Assessment (by Lafarge) was obtained fraudulently and was invalid one, full of illegalities," a statement by the organizations said. They said all mining operations carried out by Lafarge till date was illegal.
The Supreme Court had last week directed the French cement major to get fresh Enviornment Impact Assessment done for its controversial limestones mines in the forests of Meghalaya for its Bangladesh-based project and refused to grant permission for mining.
A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices S H Kapadia and Aftab Alam said it would not permit mining without getting EIA based on the new guidelines of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC).
The next hearing by the apex court is scheduled for April 9.
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