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(`LUMPL' for short), which is an incorporated company under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 and which is a wholly owned subsidiary of LSCL. The entire produce of the said mine is used for production of cement at the manufacturing plant at Chhatak, Bangladesh under the agreement/arrangement between Government of India and Government of Bangladesh.

There is no other source of limestone for LSCL except for the captive limestone mine situated at Nongtrai, East Khasi Hills District in the State of Meghalaya. The limestone as mined by LUMPL is conveyed from the mine situated at Nongtrai after crushing in a crusher plant. The limestone mined is conveyed by a conveyor belt to LSCL plant in Bangladesh.

The source of this information was the NEHU Report.

According to the said Report, mining of limestone in Khasi Hills was a source of revenue right from 1858. The limestone deposit in Meghalaya is estimated to be 2165 million tonnes.

Exploitation of Nongtrai limestone dates back to 1885. Even today, a number of private parties quarry limestone in this area. An area of 100 hectares stood acquired by LMMPL on lease basis for mining. For that an agreement was signed with Village Durbar. The limestone bearing area around Nongtrai and Shella falls under the Karst topography. This area falls on the southern fringe of the Meghalaya plateau. [See Land Use/ Land Cover Map (March 1997) submitted by Mr. F.S. Nariman, Source: IRS-1C LISS-3 MX DATA, Path & Row: 111-054, Date:

(b) Nature of the land

21. In the NEHU Report of June, 1997 (Rapid EIA of Proposed Limestone Mining Project at Nongtrai, Meghalaya), a brief history of limestone mining in Khasi Hills of Meghalaya is spelt out. It indicates that mining of limestone in Khasi Hills dates back to July 10, 1763 when an agreement was signed between East India Company and the Nawab of Bengal for preparation of chunam. Regular trade of limestone from Khasi Hills of Bengal started on and from 1858. Substantial revenue was earned by the British Government from these limestone quarries as rentals, which was Rs. 23,000/- in 1858 and which subsequently stood increased to Rs. 67,000/- in 1878.

The first historical account of exploitation of Nongtrai limestone dates back to 1885 when Don Rai of Shella obtained permits from the Wahadars (Head of Confederacy) of Shella to quarry limestone in Nongtrai village. There are historical records about continuance of limestone trade between Khasi Hills and Bengal up to 1947. The business declined after partition. Limestone mining and trade slipped into the hands of unorganized sector. According to the NEHU Report of 1997, today a number of private parties quarry limestone using unscientific methods and export it to counterparts in Bangladesh, often illegally. These private parties sell the product at a very low price. This aspect is also being examined by CEC which has now filed its report in I.A. No. 3063 of 2011. One more aspect needs to be highlighted.