Border dispute: Assam to hand over 12. 28 Sq km area to Meghalaya

As a settlement of  the ongoing boundary row between Assam and Meghalaya, Assam has agreed to hand over 18.28 sq km out of the 36.79 sq km of disputed land to Meghalaya. 

According to the sources, a meeting was held among the leaders of all the political parties of Assam who arrived at the consensus on the proposal of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The meeting was held in a Guest House in Koinadhora, Guwahati, where of the 36.79 sq km disputed land, Assam will keep 18.51 sq km.

Last week,  Assam CM Himanta Biswa  Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma had decided to resolve the dispute in six of the areas namely- Taradubi, Gizang, Hakim, Boklapara, Kanapara- Pilingkata and Ratacherra by January 21.

Sarma took to his twitter handle stating, “our efforts to resolve Assam-Meghalaya border row have started bearing fruits as 6 of the 12 areas of difference have been identified for resolution in the first phase. During an interaction, briefed representatives of all political parties on the progress made so far.”  

“The proposal is not acceptable to us. We do not agree with it. Earlier, the Meghalaya government did not cooperate with us in the demarcation of boundaries between the two states. They have also rejected the report of Survey of India,” said Debabrata Saikia, the leader of opposition.

Furthermore, alleging that  Meghalaya police has been pressurising residents of the border villages to opt to stay with the state, the Nazira legislator said that such issues didn’t find a place in the regional committees’ report.

Echoing with Saikia, Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M) leader, Manoranjan Talukdar said that though both the states have reached a consensus on the issue, the same needs to be discussed in the Assam Assembly before reaching a formal agreement.

United People’s Party Liberal (UUPL) MLA Bhupen Baro said, “We agree to the proposal of the chief minister Sarma. But the leaders of other political parties have sought a discussion in the State Assembly as well.”

Moreover, Meghalaya government has no plan to call for an all-party meeting or a special session to discuss the issue, Tynsong said, “If you remember, the CM had called all political parties, district councils, NGOs and other stakeholders to discuss the issue. The meeting has already been called and even Assam did the same. So, the consultation on the issue has already been completed.”