AIZAWL, 1 Aug: Mizoram Home Minister K Sapdanga on Thursday said that the construction of a road, allegedly by the Assam administration, in the disputed border area between the two states has been halted.
It was found during an inspection that the Assam government “undertook new construction of a road while clearing several border roads affected by recent landslides,” he said.
Border roads to link police outposts set up by the Assam government were affected by rain-triggered landslides in June, Sapdanga said.
“As soon as we received a report about the new construction, the Kolasib deputy commissioner contacted his Cachar counterpart and requested him to stop the construction. The matter has been resolved,” Sapdanga told reporters.
His comment comes days after the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) and a students’ organisation alleged road construction by the neighbouring state in the disputed area along the Mizoram-Assam border.
The MNF’s Serlui North block unit alleged that the Assam government was constructing roads in Aitlang area near Vairengte town and asked the Mizoram dispensation to resolve the matter before the border talks to be held on 9 August.
The Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), a body of students in Mizoram, urged the state government to take steps to ensure that the construction was halted.
Spadanga said that the “matter required discussion at the district administration level and it has been resolved now.”
He said that the governments of Mizoram and Assam will hold the next round of border talks in Aizawl on 9 August.
The two states have held several rounds of talks, including three ministerial-level meetings, since August 2021, and agreed to maintain peace along the boundary and resolve the dispute through dialogue.
Three Mizoram districts – Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit – share a 164.6-km-long border with Assam’s Cachar, Karmganj and Hailankandi.
The border dispute between the two states persisted for decades and is yet to be resolved.
The dispute took an ugly turn in July 2021 when police forces of the two states exchanged fire, leading to the death of seven people, including six policemen 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 dispute mainly stemmed from two colonial demarcations in 1875 and 1933. Mizoram claims that a 509 square mile area of the inner line reserved forest, notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873, falls within its territory.
Assam, on the other hand, regarded the map prepared by the Survey of India in 1933 as its constitutional boundary. (PTI)