Arunachal: Boundary Commissions did not consult before joint verification, allege affected villagers

The people of Lora, Bello, and Buka villages in Papum Pare district's Kakoi circle in Arunachal Pradesh have accused the interstate boundary commissions of conducting joint verification along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border without informing the affected people.

Under the auspices of the Lora, Bello, and Buka Bioundary Committee (LBBBC), the affected people vehemently opposed the "looping plot system" allegedly adopted by the joint verification team of Assam and Arunachal.
In a press conference held here on Friday, LBBC chairman Nabam Akin Hina claimed that the joint verification team of Assam and Arunachal "is working against the principle of Namsai Declaration over boundary settlement".

The chief ministers of the two states agreed in the Namsai Declaration to resolve the vexing boundary issue while keeping the sentiments of the people living along the border in mind.
Hina claimed that on January 17, a joint verification team from Assam and Arunachal came to Kakoi circle for verification.
"Neither Assam nor Arunachal officials showed their proposed map, nor did Arunachal officials have the minutes. "They must involve and listen to the affected people if they want to resolve the boundary issue," Hina said.
"The villagers and affected people of Lora, Bello, and Buka villages are concerned that the verification team from both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is using a looping system," he added. 

"Unaware of the agreements of the regional committees, the villagers of Lora-I and II, Bello-I and II and Buka-I and II requested the officers to disclose the contents of the agreed minutes of the meetings and the proposed final interstate maps with their copies. "However, the officers expressed an unwillingness to disclose and provide the information," Hina said.

"Without knowing the contents of the agreements and the proposed map, the villagers and members of this committee are fearful of the deceptive 1951 Bordoloi Commission report and the same consequences," he added. 

"We request that copies of the minutes of the regional committee meetings with the proposed maps be made public before ground verification and geospatial mapping activities begin," Hina said.
The LBBBC reiterated that it would oppose it tooth and nail "if the agreed maps are of the loop of plots restricting us within our houses and kitchen gardens, instead of the straight lines methods as proposed by us".
"We demand demarcation via the Rajgarh road between Buka-I and II, Bello-I and II, and Lora-I and II, which are far less than the 3km buffer areas proposed by the local boundary commission in 2006," it stated.

Also read : Arunachal: Gaon Burahs plays crucial role in ensuring peaceful co-existence in villages, says Deputy CM Chowna Mein