SHILLONG, Oct 16: Cabinet Minister and Hill State People’s Democratic Party leader Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar attributed the perennial interstate boundary trouble primarily to the lack of development in the areas concerned.
He is heading the West Khasi Hills regional committee on the interstate boundary dispute.
“I am not satisfied with the development work over the years and I think that is one of the reasons for the problems there,” Tongkhar said after a visit to a few border villages.
“Had the state government developed these areas earlier, I think our people would have been comfortable doing business and farming along the border,” he added.
Admitting that some basic amenities such as proper road and electricity are missing, Tongkhar said many developmental works need to be taken up in the border areas.
He said he had been raising the border area development issue in the state Assembly.
He recalled proposing the construction of a road along the boundary with Assam to serve as a clear marker separating the two states.
“Since we are already in the process of solving the dispute, such roads can be constructed later,” Tongkhar said.
The scenario along the international border with Bangladesh is no different.
The Opposition Congress has also been slamming the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government for an inefficient Border Areas Development department, resulting in the state losing out on funds sanctioned for projects along the border.
Border Areas Development Minister Lakhmen Rymbui had earlier blamed the delay in many projects since March 2020 on the COVID constraints. Work on these projects would resume after the COVID-19 situation improves, he had said.
