Demands more environment impact reports by next hearing. Despite a favourable report from a committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and pleadings of Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati, the Supreme Court today declined to lift its ban on mining by French cement firm Lafarge Umiam Mining Ltd in Meghalaya. A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan sought further reports from the ministry by July regarding the environmental impact on the forest area. Till then, the stay on mining imposed by the court on February 5 will continue. The court expects the reports by then for further consideration. 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 environmentally sensitive zone cannot be allowed. The Bench had stayed mining activities on the basis of a MoEF report which had said the company was extracting minerals from the land falling in the forest area. The $255-million 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 Bangladesh in a 17-km-long conveyor belt. The National Environment Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, has already conducted a study for preparing