SHILLONG, Dec 9: The regional committee on interstate border for East Jaintia Hills will submit its report to Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma in the next five to ten days.
Disclosing this on Thursday, Cabinet Minister and the committee chairman, Sniawbhalang Dhar said there is a slight delay as the boundary in Ratacherra area needs to be properly demarcated. The committee had earlier sought an extension till December 15.
Dhar said there is no problem or conflict on this stretch of Ratacherra since only the Khasis reside there.
According to him, Sangma and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma will take a call on the matter after they receive reports from all the regional committees.
“I cannot say if we can resolve the dispute in the six areas of differences within December but we will try to resolve it at the earliest,” he said.
The two regional committees of Meghalaya and Assam had conducted a joint inspection at Ratacherra, one of the six areas of differences, on October 9.
Earlier, Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, who is a member of the committee, had stated that representatives of the Assam government and the Cachar district administration had requested for a map of the areas proposed to be in Meghalaya.
“This will help them for land verification when both sides visit the place to reach a decision,” Rymbui had stated.
Stating that claims and counter-claims cannot be avoided, he said Ratacherra has, since time immemorial, been a part of Meghalaya but the maps of the Assam government and the state’s Forest department claim otherwise.
The Home Minister categorically stated that both governments are eager to work together to find a solution.
On Wednesday, the Ri-Bhoi and the West Khasi Hills regional committees had submitted their reports to the CM.
