AIZAWL, 12 Jan: The Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) government in Mizoram has constituted a new boundary committee to handle issues related to the state’s border dispute with neighbouring Assam, a home department official said on Friday.
The committee is headed by Home Minister K Sapdanga, while Environment Minister Lalthansanga is the vice chairman of the panel, according to a recent notification.
Home Commissioner H Lalengmawia has been made the member secretary, the official said.
Other members of the committee include the chief minister’s adviser (political) Lalmuanpuia Punte, Chief Secretary Renu Sharma, DGP Anil Shukla, and Joseph K Lalfakzuala, an assistant professor at the state-run T Romana College.
Besides, one member each from political parties BJP, Congress, Mizo National Front (MNF), ZPM, and Aam Aadmi Party have also been included in the committee.
Also, one representative each from the NGO Coordination Committee, the Central Young Mizo Association, the Mizo Zirlai Pawl, the Mizoram Upa Pawl or the Mizoram Elders’ Association, the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl or the Mizo Women Federation, the Mizo Students’ Union and the Joint Action Committee on Inner Line Reserve Forest Demand are part of the committee.
The notification stated that the committee’s chairman, Sapdanga, can invite any person he considers necessary to its meeting.
With the formation of the new committee, the previous boundary panel constituted by the MNF government now stands disbanded.
Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma is likely to meet his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sharma this month to discuss the border issue between the two states, officials said.
A discussion between them is expected during the North Eastern Council (NEC) plenary session to be held in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong on 19 January, they said.
The two leaders will discuss the border issue to resolve the longstanding dispute, the officials said.
The proposed NEC plenary session will be chaired by union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Mizoram shares a 164.6-km-long border with Assam, and both states have a longstanding boundary dispute.
The dispute had taken an ugly turn in July 2021 when police forces of the two states exchanged fire along the interstate boundary, leading to the death of six policemen and a civilian from Assam.
More than 60 people were also injured in the violent clash that took place in the disputed area near Mizoram’s Vairengte village.
The two states have held several rounds of talks since then and agreed to maintain peace along the boundary and resolve the dispute through dialogue.
The border dispute between the two neighbouring states stemmed from two colonial demarcations in 1875 and 1933.
Mizoram claims that 509 square miles area of the inner line reserved forest, notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, falls with its territory, while Assam, on the other hand, regards the map prepared by the Survey of India in 1933 as its constitutional boundary.
Vast areas within the inner line reserved forest now fall under Assam. Similarly, a certain extent of the area, as per the 1933 demarcation, is now on the Mizoram side.
There is no ground demarcation of boundaries between the two states. (PTI)
