Our Bureau
SHILLONG/NONGSTOIN, Aug 21: The regional border committees of Meghalaya and Assam will meet here on August 26, ahead of their joint visit to the disputed Langpih area along the interstate border, Cabinet Minister Paul Lyngdoh said on Monday.
“Both the committees will be meeting here this August 26 as we prepare to go to ground zero and meet the people in the area,” said Lyngdoh who is also the chairperson of the West Khasi Hills committee.
At the last meeting in Guwahati, the committees had resolved to visit Langpih in West Khasi Hills to meet stakeholders, local representatives and residents before finalising the interstate border deal.
Lyngdoh said the regional committee from Assam had expressed its “receptiveness” to a proposal that villages identified as “problem free” and where residents are inclined to be in Meghalaya will be permitted to do so.
Meanwhile, the West Khasi Hills district administration on Monday held a meeting with the headmen of 53 villages and the Syiem of Nongmynsaw Syiemship (under which Langpih sector falls) to discuss the prevailing border disputes ahead of the joint visit.
Serbilin Lyngdoh, executive secretary of Hima Nongmynsaw Syiemship, told reporters that the meeting verified the disputed areas and the border villages and also took note of various schemes implemented by the Meghalaya government.
One core issue identified during the meeting was the confusion that emerges from the fact that some villages share the same name in both Khasi and Assamese languages. Even the name Langpih is referred to as “Lumpi” in Assamese language.
(With PTI inputs)
