Border pact with Assam by August 15, says Paul Lyngdoh
SHILLONG, June 27: The state government said that five villages will be returned to Meghalaya after it signs a memorandum of understanding with Assam by August 15 to resolve the boundary dispute.
“Before August 15, we will sign an MoU with the Assam government, whereby five new villages will come back to us,” MDA spokesperson and Cabinet Minister Paul Lyngdoh said on Friday.
He said that these five areas fall under the Ri-Bhoi district.
On recurring boundary skirmishes despite the ongoing talks between the two states at various levels, he said that they are getting closer to a solution.
Talking about Langpih, the regional committee which he heads, he said what remains to be done is a joint visit by teams of both states.
Lyngdoh countered the accusations about the state government failing to make any headway in resolving the boundary dispute, resulting in the Lapangap residents facing encroachment and harassment from their Assam counterparts.
“We sent a magistrate to confront the Assam officials. So, it’s unfair to say that the government has done little,” he said.
The Assam and Meghalaya governments signed an agreement in March 2022 to resolve a 50-year-old border dispute in six of the 12 locations, which Union Home Minister Amit Shah described as a “historic day” for the Northeast.
The two states agreed to address the border dispute in phases.
Out of the 12 points of contention, the six areas with relatively fewer differences were taken up in the first phase. In March last year, both governments resolved the dispute in Gizang, Tarabari, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilangkata, Ratacherra, and Hahim.
According to the agreement, Assam would retain 18.51 sq. km of the total 36.79 sq. km of disputed land in these areas.
In the second phase, both sides are working to resolve differences in Langpih, Borduar, Deshdoomreah, Block I-II, Psiar-Khanduli, and Nongwah-Mawtamur (Garbhanga).