Lafarge Umiam in Nongtrai caves conservation pact with Meghalaya government

Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Ltd. (LUMPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd., Bangladesh said it has launch a geo conservation programme for protecting the caves at Nongtrai area of East Khasi District, Meghalaya in partnership with the Nongtrai Dorbar Shnong.

Meghalaya has a number of cave systems and some of them are located in the Khasi Hills, which could potentially become major tourism destination. However, limestone quarrying to supply raw material to its cement plant has been imperilling the natural cave sysytem in the Jaintia Hills district.

Lafarge Umiam, which has faced charges of environmental degradation, too, has quarries in the region near Nongtrai that supply raw materials across the border to its parent Lafarge Surma's $255-million plant in Chhatak, Bangladesh.

On 30 April 2007, Lafarge Umiam was issued a closure order, as the sites of the quarries were allegedly on forestland and not wasteland, as claimed. However, in September 2007, closure order was lifted temporarily by the Supreme Court.

Lafarge Umiam says its conservation initiative is a part of the broader 'biodiversity conservation programme.'  As a first step under the Phalangkaruh Cave Geo & Bio Diversity Protection Program, enclosures are being constructed around the entrance of about 125 meters long Phalangkaruh caves to keep it protected.

''Lafarge believes that scientific mining and geo conservation can coexist. Keeping this in mind, Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt. Ltd. (LUMPL) has undertaken several measures for Geo and Bio-Diversity Conservation in the area,'' said Narayan Sharma, vice president and director, Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt. Ltd.

Sharma said, ''These measures have been implemented in keeping with Lafarge's global tradition of preserving and improving its neighborhood communities, leading to socio economic progress while preserving cultural heritage and ecological legacy.''