SC notice to Meghalaya on illegal mining in Lafarge case

The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Meghalaya government on a report by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) that illegal mining of limestone was going on in the East Khasi hill region of the state.

A special three-judge forest bench, headed by the Chief Justice S H Kapadia, has issued notice to the state government and asked it to file the reply.

The notice was accepted by Additional Solicitor General Parag Tripathi representing the state government.

"State of Meghalaya, who appears before us, undertakes to effect service on the quarry owners.Issue notice accordingly," said the bench, which also comprises justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan.
    
On April 8, the apex court had directed CEC to look into the allegations that the members of the Shella Village Action Committee (SVAC) were illegally mining limestone in the East Khasi hill region and were exporting to Bangladesh.
    
Earlier, the court had stopped mining by Lafarge over a petition filed by SVAC, which alleged that the French cement major was mining in the forest area of the region without proper approvals.
    
The apex court's direction came over the submission made by the residents of Shella's neighbouring village, Nongtarai.
   
They have alleged that SVAC does not want Lafarge to mine in that area because it may hamper their interests in the limestone business.
    
The CEC report has said that at least seven different miners were illegally mining limestone in the area. However, it was not possible to assess who was behind the mining, CEC has told the court.
    
The bench has said that it wants the names of the persons who owned the quarry within two weeks. It has directed to list the matter for May 11.
    
Meanwhile, senior advocate Harish Salve, who is appearing as amicus curiae in this matter, has again opposed the mining project of Lafarge and said that it should be scrapped.
    
He submitted that at the time of clearances, it concealed the facts about the project that it was in the forest land.
     However, it was opposed by senior advocate Fali Nariman, appearing for Lafarge and Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati, representing the government who contended that every thing was done in good faith.
    
The apex court was hearing the plea over the revised environmental clearance given to Lafarge.
    
MoEF had given revised environmental clearance to Lafarge in April last year on the directions of the Supreme Court after finding the mining project in the forest land.
People of Shella are opposing the revised clearance given
by the MoEF.
    
Lafarge is defending its case on the basis of Divisional Forest Officer's (DFO) report, given on June 30, 2000, stating that it was a waste land and there was no forest there.
    
On April 24, last year, MoEF 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 hectares of the limestone mine area in the Khasi Hills.
    
On February 5 last year, the court had stopped Lafarge from carrying out limestone mining.
    
The $255 million Lafarge Surma Cement project at Chhatak in Bangladesh is wholly dependent on the limestone extracted from the region.
    
Limestone was transported from Meghalaya to Bangladesh on a 17 km-long conveyor belt.