SC asks Lafarge to get fresh EIA for Meghalaya mining

New Delhi, March 31 The Supreme Court today directed French cement major Lafarge to get fresh Enviornment Impact Assessment done for its controversial limestones mines in the forests of Meghalaya for its Bangladesh-based project and refused to grant permission for mining.

A Forest bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices S H Kapadia and Aftab Alam said it would not permit mining without getting EIA based on the new guidelines of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC).

"We do not give permission without EIA ... If this court has not allowed any one to do mining without EIA, why would you?" said the bench refusing the request of Attorney General G E Vahanvati to grant permission to Lafarge to mine till the EIA is complete.