SHILLONG, Dec 3: Fretted about the status quo along Assam-Meghalaya border, C&RD Minister, Hamletson Dohling, has beseeched Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to take up with Assam the issues faced by people residing in border area of Block II and resolve it at the earliest.
Dohling, who met Conrad on Thursday, said that during his recent visit to Jatalong, locals narrated to him their ordeals, one of them being highhandedness from the neighbouring state.
Dohling alleged that the Assam Forest department frequently levies taxes on agricultural goods and deplored that the villagers of these areas are barred from collecting firewood for their household activities.
The minister also claimed that in 2018, a school building at Khlieh Umwang was destroyed.
“They also highlighted that sanctioned infrastructure development works could not be carried out in the area due to stiff opposition from Assam,” Dohling said, adding there are no ASHAs to implement government schemes in these villages.