SHILLONG, Sep 27: The Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya will jointly inspect some specific disputed sites on the interstate border. Disclosing this on Monday, Meghalaya CM, Conrad K Sangma said the locations as well as the date of visit have not been finalised yet.
After the first meeting of the three regional committees on border disputes, the Meghalaya government had introduced the chairmen of the panels to their Assam counterparts.
“We have asked them to start meeting different stakeholders at regional level like the autonomous district councils, political parties, MLAs and civil society groups,” Sangma told reporters.
He said Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had recently held a meeting in Nongpoh to ensure that every stakeholder is on board during resolution of the disputes.
After the second round of border talks between Sangma and Sarma on August 6, the two states had constituted three regional committees each. They are headed by a Cabinet minister each.
The regional committees were assigned to examine the current status of six “less complicated” areas of differences — Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pillangkata and Ratacherra. They fall under West Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi and East Jaintia Hills districts of Meghalaya and Cachar, Kamrup and Kamrup (Metro) districts of Assam.
The committees in Meghalaya were asked to coordinate with their Assam counterparts and cross-reference and verify the names of villages (sub-villages) claimed by Meghalaya with the names of villages as per the records of Assam government.
They were also asked to establish the geographical locations of the villages and their contiguity and examine the status of population of the villages as per census records, including ethnicity.
