[Bengia Ajum]
HACHENGKAN, 27 Feb: Assam forest department officials entered into Arunachal territory on Wednesday here in Changlang district to conduct ‘geotagging’, reportedly for the demarcation of boundary between the two states.
According to a report, 10 forest officials from Lekhapani range of Assam visited Jopakan and Hachengkan villages in Namtok circle at around 4 pm for the purpose. A viral video of local Arunachalis recording the activities of the Assam officials in Jopakhan area is being widely circulated.
In the video, Assam forest guards carrying weapons can be seen objecting to the filming. Surprisingly, the Assam officials did not give prior intimation to their Arunachal counterpart. “No prior information was given to officials of Namtok circle by the Assam forest officials. Fortunately there was no untoward incident and they went back later,” said an official of Changlang district.
The incident occurred just two days before the meeting of the deputy commissioners of Changlang and Tinsukia, scheduled to be held on Friday. The meeting is part of the effort to resolve boundary disputes.
In 2022, Arunachal and Assam signed the historic Namsai Declaration agreement to resolve the decades-old boundary dispute between two states.
The declaration was signed by the chief ministers of both the states – Pema Khandu and Himanta Biswa Sarma – at Nami. As part of the declaration, 12 regional committees each, covering 12 districts of Arunachal and Assam for joint verification and recommendations to the respective state governments, were also constituted. Assam and Arunachal share an 804.1-km long border.
