Govt set to notify panel for joint border inspection

SHILLONG, Aug 19: A fortnight after the chief ministers of Meghalaya and Assam announced that the two states would work to sort out the boundary dispute in six areas of differences, the two sides are all set to notify the state committees that would conduct joint inspections of the six “less complicated” areas.
Chief Secretary, MS Rao on Thursday said that ahead of the joint visits, the two states are working on a common notification for the respective state committees that would be entrusted with the task.
“Both Assam and Meghalaya will shortly notify the committees and then a joint visit will take place in the six areas of difference in the first phase,” Rao said.
Assam and Meghalaya have agreed to constitute a three-member committee on each side, which will be headed by a Cabinet minister. The committees will visit the six areas of differences and work on modalities for resolution of the decades-old disputes.
The six areas of differences to be tackled in the first phase include Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilangkata and Ratacherra.
Three of the six areas are located in West Khasi Hills, Ri-Bhoi and East Jaintia Hills districts while the others are in Assam.
Reacting to a query on whether the Meghalaya government will take due consideration of the documents submitted to Assam a few years back in an attempt to claim ownership of the disputed areas, Rao said those aspects would be covered by the soon to be formed state committee.
The Opposition Congress in Meghalaya has opposed the idea of a “give and take” policy suggested by Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma and had asked both sides to resolve the disputes on the basis of documentations provided by the Meghalaya Government to Assam earlier.
To another query, the chief secretary said there was no report of any skirmish along the disputed areas after the second round of meeting between the two CMs in Guwahati on August 6.
Prior to that, Conrad Sangma and Himanta had met in Shillong on July 23 to discuss the boundary issue.