SC blow to Lafarge New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to lift the stay on limestone mining by French cement giant Lafarge in the forests of Meghalaya till the Ministry of Environment and Forests submits a report on environmental compliance. "Till the time appropriate reports are submitted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, we are not inclined to accept the report of MoEF and permit the mining," a Special Forest Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices S H Kapadia and Aftab Alam said. The Ministry had recently filed an affidavit before the court stating that it had given the go-ahead on the condition that the company implement various welfare schemes for the locals. The Bench was of the view that the Ministry's report giving clearance for mining has not appreciated the recommendations of an expert committee that called for comprehensive bio-engineering plan, periodical assessment of flora and fauna. The court said it would consider lifting of the stay only after the four conditions mentioned in the report of the expert committee are fulfilled. Among them, Lafarge has to submit detailed comprehensive bio-engineering plan of the area as per the suggestion of Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research, Nagpur and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur. The cement firm would have to make periodical assessment of flora and fauna of the area including a time bound plan for conservation as recommended in the digital mapping report of the mining area.` The apex court has also asked for a comprehensive bio-diversity conservation plan with a provision of time bound implementation be prepared by the state government and the fund should be provided by Lafarge in a time-bound manner. It also asked Lafarge to implement Surface Miner Technology to reduce environmental impact as recommended in the digital mapping report. The opposition for lifting the February 5 order staying the mining operation came from senior advocate Harish Salve, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter and senior advocate P S Narasimha, appearing for the tribals of Shella village, who raised questions over the environmental clearance report submitted by the MoEF in alleged haste. "The site inspection report of MoEF raises more issues than it answers. These are post environment clearances. How can they rapidly conclude it in two days only... should have spent at least 10 days. What was the need of such rapid assessment," Salve submitted. Salve said no mandatory soil testing was done by the MoEF on the grounds that no top soil was available in that area. "If we grant clearance in such way then we can imagine the type of environmental damage," he said, adding that there was no urgency in granting permission to Lafarge. He said the yardsticks for giving environmental clearance has to be uniform and referred to apex court's decision in the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project which was not cleared for four years till entire parameters were followed. Narasimha questioned the MoEF report saying that the committee even did not meet the locals. "We cannot permit law of this country to be bended because it is a case of MNC firm. They would have to take permission as per the law. Even its takes four years, let it take," he submitted. However, senior advocate Fali Nariman appearing for the cement firm, requested the court to lift its stay as the stock of raw materials for the Bangladesh plant has been finished. He submitted that Lafarge would pay for "whatsoever penalty is imposed." The MoEF on Friday had filed an affidavit giving a go-ahead to mining activities on the condition that the company work for the welfare of the locals and would follow some mandatory conditions. The MoEF had directed Lafarge to deposit Rs 90 crore for the creation of a Special Purpose Vehicle, which would be headed by the Chief Secretary of Meghalaya. The development projects, which will be solely for the local community and welfare of the tribals, could be in areas such as health, education, economy, irrigation and agriculture. The MoEF submission came after the apex court had on April 12 directed it to take a final decision on the revised forest clearance for the 116-hectare limestone mine area in the Khasi Hills Forest area of Meghalaya. The apex court on February 5 had stopped Lafarge from carrying out limestone mining in Meghalaya for its cement plant in Bangladesh, saying mining in the environment sensitive zone cannot be allowed. The Bench had stayed mining activities on the basis of a MoEF report, which had said that the company was extracting minerals from the land falling in the forest area. The 255 million dollar Lafarge Surma Cement project at Chhatak in Bangladesh is wholly dependent on limestone extracted from East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya. Limestone is transported from Meghalaya to Bangaldesh through a 17-km-long conveyor belt. (PTI)