Representatives of five villages in West Jaintia Hills bordering Assam – Barato, Mukroh, Saba, Maitdieng and Jonkynshur – met Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today requesting him to urge Assam to stop encroaching onto Meghalaya’s land.
The San Shnong Development Organisation (SSDO), a conglomeration of the five villages, in a letter to Sangma informed that, recently, the government of Assam constructed a police outpost at Saba (Langhong-Sangdathli) falling under West Jaintia Hills.
The SSDO said that this outpost was inaugurated on June 12 in the presence of the MLA of Karbi Anglong Block I.
“Prior to this inauguration and other civil work activities, the San Shnong have complained on April 27, 2021 and reported to the Deputy Commissioner of West Jaintia Hills to stop the work immediately because the site that has been selected is on Meghalaya land but no action was taken,” the SSDO stated.
The SSDO also said that the government of Assam did not respect the previous agreement to maintain status quo between the two states, whereby no further work was to be undertaken without prior information between the two governments for the common interest in the border area of Block I and II.
The organisation also informed the CM that the Block I of Karbi Anglong district has set up a forest outpost at Khlieh Sanaro, Mukroh village, in Meghalaya.
“This forest outpost has created a lot of inconvenience to the movement of farmers of Mukroh and other neighbouring villages,” the SSDO said.
The SSDO urged Sangma to take up the matter with his Assam counterpart to remove the outpost constructed at Saba village and also to have land demarcation between the districts of Karbi Anglong and West Jaintia Hills.
“The boundary issue has been lying pending since the year 1972, i.e. the inception of the state. Although it is a challenging task for the governments to settle this issue, it is the moral duty and responsibility of the government to protect the life and property of its citizens,” the organisation added.
The SSDO also pointed out several incidents of violence perpetrated by Assam residents on people of Meghalaya.
