The Chief Minister provided the Assembly with details on the memorandum of understanding signed between Meghalaya and Assam over six of the 12 disputed border areas that have been a thorn in the side of both states since Meghalaya was created in 1972.
The deal “may not be a perfect solution that we would want but we strongly feel that this is the best solution that we can bring forward today and present to the house,” Sangma said.
The MoU was signed by the two states January 29 but was only now discussed in the Assembly. It has been submitted to the Centre for approval. Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma will travel to New Delhi on March 9 to discuss the matter with the Union Home Ministry.
Sangma today presented the deal between the two states as a win for Meghalaya. Although the 36.79 sq km of disputed territory will roughly be split evenly, Meghalaya will get 30 out of the 36 disputed villages, either outright or partially. Ownership of land, however, will not be affected by how the boundary is demarcated.
Several criteria were used by the two states to divvy up the land in question, but Sangma said that the feelings of the residents and their ethnicity were the main factors.
The CM also told the house that no new areas of differences will be added to the already identified 12 locations, six of which have now been solved. The other six, which are expected to be more complicated in resolving, will be tackled later.
Of the three areas in West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya will take control of all eight villages in the Tarabari area. In the Gizang area, Meghalaya will get two out of three villages – Amagaon and Gohanimara, while Malsapara and the Gizang Reserve Forest will go to Assam. Eleven out of 12 villages in the Hahim area will also come to Meghalaya.
R-Bhoi has two areas of difference. In the Boklapara area, Boklapara village will be in Meghalaya and Jimrigaon will be in Assam. The Khanapara-Pillingkata area of difference is significant as it lies just outside Assam’s capital and is therefore a large population hub.
Here it was agreed that the Assam State Transport Corporation transit camp to the Namghar police outpost and Assamese inhabited areas of Khanapara village and Dreamland Resort will go to Assam. The rest of the area, including the entire apartment complex of Brahmaputra Realtors will be given to Meghalaya. In Patarkuchi, those places inhabited by ethnic communities of Meghalaya and their religious and cultural place, if any, will be included in Meghalaya after a detailed survey. In Maikhuli, Muamari Beel will go to Assam but Maikuli graveyard will be in Meghalaya.
In East Jaiñtia Hills, Malidor, Ratacherra and Border Umperdit will belong to Meghalaya and Baleswar Grant revenue village will belong to Assam.
Sangma said that besides discussions, visits and surveys by the two states’ regional committees, special technologies were used in the exercise and the border demarcation will be more accurately determined by the Survey of India in the presence of representatives of both states.
Sangma also thanked Sarma and the Assam government for his efforts in resolving the dispute and paid tribute to past Meghalaya Chief Ministers for laying the foundations for the deal.
