Assam, Meghalaya team jointly visits disputed areas in Kamrup

A joint ministerial-level team of Assam and Meghalaya visited several disputed areas in Assam's Kamrup district on Tuesday as part of the ongoing exercise to resolve boundary issues between the two Northeastern states.

The delegation, comprising MLAs and top civil and police officials from both sides, held meetings with villagers and village heads to take their views on the disputes, an official statement said.

The Assam side was led by Water Resources Minister Pijush Hazarika, while Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong headed the Meghalaya representatives.

They visited Jimirgaon, Bakhalapara, Lungkhung, Patgaon and Bandhapara, among others.

They interacted with the locals and village heads, and said the views of the residents of the disputed areas will be given due importance in the reports Hazarika and Tynsong will place before their respective chief ministers.

Hazarika was accompanied by Kamrup Deputy Commissioner in-charge Kailash Kartik N and Superintendent of Police Hitesh Chandra Rai, while Tynsong's team included Meghalaya's Transport Minister Dasakhiatbha Lamare, MLAs of Jirang and Nongpoh constituencies and the deputy commissioner of Ri Bhoi district, the statement added.

The delegation that visited the border areas is part of the three committees that were formed by each of the two states in August after the two chief ministers decided to resolve the vexed border disputes in a phased manner.

Out of total 12 points of disputes, six areas with relatively less critical differences have been taken up in the first phase, with the remaining areas to be pursued later.

The three committees will submit their reports to their state governments by November 30, and after discussions with various stakeholders, a joint final statement by the two states is expected by December 30.

Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state in 1972 and it had challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, leading to disputes in 12 areas in different parts of the shared 884.9-km-long border.