The Tanzania government has put Tata Chemicals's soda ash plant around Lake Natron on hold. National Environmental Management Council (NEMC), the country's environmental watchdog, has recommended a new environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA). The recommendation came after NEMC called for a meeting between conservationists and Tata Chemicals to review the previous ESIA of the project. Conservationists have been alleging that a previous assessment by Norconsult had loopholes (see