Indian cave research body opposes Lafarge's mega cement plant
A cave research body recently urged the Indian Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh not to give environmental clearance to French company Lafarge's proposed mega cement plant in Meghalaya.
National Cave Research and Protection Organisation in its petition to Jairam said the proposed cement plant poses a threat to numerous cave systems and wildlife in northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya.
”The Jaintia Hills district (where the plant is proposed) is internationally referred to as the Mecca for the cavers of the world. Several caving systems existing in this particular location have been listed in the world map of the longest and deepest caves. Proper protection of these subterranean caves must be one of our national regard,” the cave research body said in the petition.
Urging the Indian government to consider the facts before taking any decision on environmental clearance to the plant, it said, “We are not even aware of two per cent subterranean biodiversity abiding in these caves but we are leaving them to get extinct”.
The proposed plant site is very close to Narpuh and Saipung reserve forests and the noise and dust pollution from the proposed plant would be a threat to the wildlife there, the petition signed by the organisation's president Jayant Biswas said.
Besides, the contaminated water to be discharged by the plant would lead to degradation of the land known for good rice productivity, it said.
There were already a number of cement plants in the district which flout norms, it added.
Earlier, Lafarge had said the apprehensions raised about the environmental impact of the project are 'premature' and 'unfounded'.
The project would maintain the highest standards of environmental protection and use scientific mining techniques as per the best international practices.
Besides, the project would not progress without conducting a proper environmental impact assessment and obtaining all statutory clearances, the French company had said in a statement.
Lafarge India Eastern Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lafarge India Pvt Ltd, had got a single window clearance from Meghalaya government for it's proposed 1.1mt integrated cement plant at Nongkhlei in the limestone rich Jaintia Hills district.
The French company's limestone mining project in the state is shut since February following an apex court order on a petition filed by an NGO alleging that Lafarge's mining activities violated the constitutional provision against handing over tribal land in the northeast to non-tribals.
It had also alleged that the company had obtained environmental clearance by falsely showing thickly-forested land as wasteland.
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