LUM MAWSHUN MINERALS PVT. LTD
Comprehensive Environmental Impact
Assessment of Limestone
Mine: Village Nongtrai,
Meghalaya, India
February 2002
ERM India Private Limited
2nd Floor, 3 Palam Marg, Vasant Vihar
New Delhi - 110 057, India
Telephone 91 11 615 45 50
Facsimile 91 11 615 45 48
Email: postmaster@ermindia.com
Executive Summary
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
Lum Mawshun Minerals Private Limited (LMMPL)
proposes to set up an open cast limestone mine at
Phlangkaruh, Nongtrai, Shella Confederacy in the district of
East Khasi Hills. The proposed mine will extract about 2
million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of limestone that will be
transported to proposed cement plant at Chhatak in
Bangladesh through a belt conveyor. Out of the 17.3 km
(total length of the proposed belt conveyor corridor) 7.2 km
will be within the Indian Territory and the rest will be in
Bangladesh. LMMPL is a private limited company
incorporated in India. The company has a joint venture
equity participation with a foreign partner Lafarge Surma
Cement Limited (LSC), Bangladesh. The project is a
designated development under the Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) Notification, 1994 and amendments
promulgated under Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),
1986. As per the EIA notification, the project requires
Environmental Clearance from State Pollution Control Board
and Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) based on
EIA of the project in line with the guidelines of the MoEF.
Accordingly, the company has retained ERM India Pvt. Ltd,
New Delhi to undertake Rapid & Comprehensive
Environmental Impact Assessment (R-EIA & C-EIA) and
preparation of Environmental Management Plan (EMP)
study for various environmental components which may be
affected due to the activities of the proposed mining project.
This C-EIA report is based on four seasons baseline data
generated for an area of 10 km radius around the proposed
mine site. MoEF has granted environment clearance to the
project based on the R-EIA report through their letter no. J11015/10/2000-IA-II-(M) dated 9 August 2001 (refer to
Annex C for the copy).
1.2 SITE AND SURROUNDINGS
The mining lease area lies between the latitudes 25° 11' 25" N
& 25° 12' 00" N and longitudes 91° 37' 28" E & 91° 38' 01" E.
The lease area falls within hamlet Phlangkaruh of village
Nongtrai and lies on the western side of the Umium River,
about 2 km NW of village Shella Bazaar. The location map of
Limestonemine area, and its key plan are shown in Figure
1.1 A and 1.1 B respectively.
The Nongtrai/Shella area is located in a remote part of
Meghalaya State in India, away from urban and industrial
centres, in the southern face of Khasi Hills. To the South of
the lease area, there lies the international border between
India and Bangladesh, which runs in an east-west direction
in general. The topography of the region is marked by
rugged hilly terrain rising from the low altitudes of the
plains on the south and up to 700 m above mean sea level
northwards. The general elevation of the lease area ranges
between 90m Reduced Level (RL) and 190 m RL. To the
north, the land rises abruptly to the higher altitudes of the
plateau whilst to the south, the land slopes gently to the
plains of Bangladesh. To the east, the land slopes gently
forming a gorge through which the river Umium flows. To
the west, the land rolls with hills of different elevations.
1.3 ACCESSIBILITY
The details of the accessibility of the area is as follows:
Road
The lease area lies on the western side of the Umium river
valley, about 2 km NW of village Shella Bazaar and is
approachable from Shillong (109 km), the capital of
Meghalaya, via Mawsynram & Nongtrai villages by a
tracked road. It is also accessible from Shillong (96 km) by a
tracked road via Cherrapunji upto village Shella Bazar.
However, there is no access road/bridge across the Umium
River to connect the two villages Shella Bazar in the east and
Pyrkan Shella in west of the river. During the dry season,
the villagers for crossing the river by foot usually construct
a temporary bamboo bridge. But in the rainy season, one has
to cross the river by boat.
Rail
The nearest Railhead is at Guwahati, about 200 km away
towards the North of the area.
Air
The nearest airports are in Upper Shillong (110 km away)
and Guwahati (200 km away). However, no regular flights
are scheduled to Shillong except helicopter service between
Guwahati and Shillong.
1.4 NEED FOR THE PROJECT
Meghalaya is very rich in Mineral resources like limestone,
shale, coal, sillimanite and uranium. Reportedly, the size of
limestone deposits in Meghalaya has been estimated to be
2,166 million tonnes and another unconfirmed deposit of 180
million tonnes. Most of the deposits are currently lying
unutilised and can be exploited commercially for the
development of the state. Bangladesh is almost wholly
dependent on limestone imported from other countries,
mostly from the state of Meghalaya in India. With the
growing cooperation between India and Bangladesh, LSC is
proposing to set up a cement plant in Bangladesh with
limestone to be sourced from Meghalaya through LMMPL.
The objectives of the proposed mining project are to excavate
limestone whilst achieving a balance between impacts on the
local environment, community needs and economic
viability. For the proposed mine, LMMPL aims at the
following objectives:
1.4.1 Production and Operational
establish open cast limestone mine producing export
quality limestone;
develop and manage the mine in an environmentally
friendly manner;
maximise operational flexibility;
optimise resource use; and
develop and operate a mine that meets or exceeds
community expectations in terms of environmental
outcomes and cost.
1.4.2 Environmental
protect native flora and fauna;
protect quality of local surface and groundwater;
minimise public health risks from mine operations;
ensure that ecological balance of the area should not be
adversely affected by dust; and
minimise noise and blasting impacts on surroundings.
1.4.3 Socio-economic
maximise local employment and educational opportunities
by direct and indirect means;
maintain safety along the conveyor belt corridor while
conveying limestone to Bangladesh;establish monitoring
programme and provide procedures for the resolutions
community concerns;
ensure proper security arrangement around the mine and
along conveyor belt corridor including point of its border
crossing; and
Improvement in the living standard of the local habitants.
1.5 SITE SELECTION
The proposed mining plant site has been selected based on
following considerations:
availability of rich belt of limestone in the state; and
closeness of Indian territory to that of Bangladesh for
supply of limestone for the proposed cement plant to be
located in Bangladesh;
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The C-EIA study covers an area of 10-km radius for all
environmental attributes with the proposed mining project
as per MoEF guidelines. The scope of the study broadly
includes:
literature review that includes identification of relevant
data and articles from various publications, various
government agencies and other sources;
environmental monitoring so as to establish the baseline
environmental status of the study area;
identify various existing pollution loads due to industrial
and domestic activities in the surrounding area;
evaluate the predicted impacts on the various
environmental attributes in the study area by using
scientifically developed and widely accepted Environmental
Impact Assessment Methodologies;
prepare an Environmental Management Plan (EMP)
outlining the measures for improving the environmental
quality; and
identify critical environmental attributes required to be
monitored. The environmental monitoring for ambient air
quality, meteorology, dust fall, noise levels, soil quality and
water quality, etc. was undertaken by ERM India through a
recognized laboratory called Netel Chromatographs.The
details of environmental monitoring are given in
1.7 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY
Reconnaissance survey was conducted and sampling
locations were identified on the basis of the following:
existing topography;
proposed locations of water intake and treated effluent
disposal points of mine/domestic/other sources;
location of villages/towns/sensitive areas;
accessibility, power availability and security of monitoring
equipment;
pockets of domestic pollution within the study area; and
areas which represent baseline conditions.
Note: For complete report contact EIA Resource &Response Centre