Cavers Join Meghalaya Villagers Against Lafarge Cement Plant
Author:
First published in Sanctuary Asia,
Vol. 30
No. 11,
November 2010
This, it argued, is not only because the proposed plant site is perilously close to two reserve forests - Narpuh and Saipung - set to become wildlife sanctuaries. Some 500 hectares of land in Nongkhlieh village has been transferred to Lafarge India for the plant. Villagers are protesting this transfer, which they say was done “undemocratically and forcefully" by the Dolloi or local chieftain.
“The area already has eight cement plants within a 5 km radius. Obviously, the norms must have been flouted in setting up of these plants," said the save-cave organization's Raipur-based president Jayant Biswas. One more would add to air pollution and contamination of the groundwater system in the area, he feared. Read the full report here.
Source: Rahul Karmakar, HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, Guwahati.
