Assam, Meghalaya CMs meet Shah, apprise him of boundary agreement

NEW DELHI, 20 Jan: A day after agreeing to resolve the decades-old boundary disputes, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma on Thursday met union Home Minister Amit Shah and apprised him of the outcome of their discussions and how to settle the issue amicably.

The two chief ministers on Wednesday had said that the Assam and Meghalaya governments agreed to resolve the boundary disputes and came to a consensus on the villages and identified natural boundaries such as rivers and forests.

“I along with HCM Meghalaya Sri @SangmaConrad met Adarniya Griha Mantri Sri @AmitShah ji in New Delhi. We apprised Hon HM on the outcomes of discussions held between Assam & Meghalaya governments to resolve the border disputes amicably. We’re grateful for his guidance,” Sarma tweeted after attending the hour-long meeting with Sangma.

Sangma also tweeted: “Called on Hon’ble HM, @AmitShah ji with HCM of Assam, @himantabiswa ji and apprised him on the reports of the Regional Committees. He expressed happiness on the initiative taken by both the States in the matter. MHA will examine the reports & we will meet HM again post 26th Jan.”

Sarma on Wednesday had said the two states would submit their recommendations to the Centre and urge it to take the matter forward.

“The Assam-Meghalaya border issue was discussed in the (state) cabinet. The regional committees of both the states have come to a consensus, and agreement has also been reached at the chief minister level,” he had said.

The union home ministry is now expected to finalize a ‘conclusion’ but more or less the structure has been reached after a long-drawn exercise between the two states, Sangma had said.

The boundary demarcation will be done after the due procedure in Parliament, he said.

There are 36 villages in six places of difference, covering an area of 36.79 sq kms.

Three committees each were formed by the two states in August last year after two rounds of talks between Sarma and Sangma were held to resolve the vexed boundary dispute in a phased manner.

According to the joint final set of recommendations given by the committees, out of 36.79 sq kms disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, Assam will be getting full control of 18.51 sq km area and Meghalaya of 18.28 sq kms.

Out of the 12 points of disputes between Assam and Meghalaya, six areas with relatively less critical differences were taken up in the first phase.

Sangma said the boundary disputes have been existing for 50 years and resolving it was a difficult task but due to the efforts made by the two states, a solution has been arrived at.

Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state in 1972 and it had challenged the Assam Reorganization Act, 1971, leading to disputes in 12 areas along the 884.9-km-long boundary. (PTI)