UNB reported that the traditional council of the village where the limestone mining project of Lafarge is located at Meghalaya in India, has stated their no objection to French cement giant.
In a court affidavit filed at the court on October 5, the head of Nongtrai village Durbar BL Lyngdoh said that the arrival of Lafarge in their area has opened up employment opportunities along with many other benefits and assistance.
He said that the application filed before the Supreme Court opposing the Lafarge operations were filed by some vested groups which comprises of exporters, whose business interests have been affected by the Lafarge project.
The affidavit countered the claims of Shella Action Committee, the organization whose primal objection spawned the whole affair.
A clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest has been sought by the Supreme Court taking into account the charges of Shella Action Committee that limestone was being mined in the forest areas and the environmental clearance was obtained fraudulently.
A final verdict from the court, which had halted the mining operations of Lafarge from February last is awaited.
The counter affidavit stated that "The project has not resulted in diversion of agricultural land. In fact no cultivations are possible in the mining area due to the rocky nature of the soil. The Shella Action Committee does not represent the local people. They are not even residents of the area."
Lyngdoh the head of the village council, said that the land where mining operations belonged to Nongtrai Village Durbar. The affidavit also states that the opposing party consists of limestone exporters who used to export limestone to Bangladesh without sharing any benefits with the locals.
On the other hand, Lafarge pays a royalty fee which resulted a total amount of 3.15 crore Indian Rupee for the whole village and 140,000 for each household, till December 2009.
Lafarge Umium was mining the quarry area spread over 100 hectares near the Indo-Bangladesh border for supply of raw material to Lafarge Surma Cement project at Chhatak in Sunamganj, Bangladesh.
(Sourced from bangladesh.world-countries.net)
