Has Lafarge violated State land law?
By Our Reporter SHILLONG: The brewing controversy regarding Lafarge mortgaging its limestone mines at Nongtrai near Shella to foreign banks has evoked concern that perhaps the company has taken undue advantage of the provision of the Meghalaya Land Transfer Act, 1971 much to the detriment of the State. The company which had taken lease of 35 years for mining and export of limestone through a 17-kilometre conveyor belt connecting its limestone quarry at Nongtrai with the company’s Chattak cement plant in Bangladesh has become an issue of heightened suspicion over its decision to mortgage its quarries to four foreign banks including Asian Development Bank (ADB). The latest decision by Lafarge to mortgage the land to foreign banks in order to raise money for the 25 million dollar project has surprised most people and has raised apprehension that multinational financial institutions could “manipulate” the land in case Lafarge failed to clear the loans. However, Mr S Galmendar Lyngdoh of LM
