Meghalaya gives 45-day extension to panels on border dispute with Assam

Meghalaya has granted a 45-day extension to three regional committees formed to resolve the remaining six areas of differences with Assam, says chief secretary DP Wahlang

The Meghalaya government granted a 45-day extension to the three regional committees formed to resolve the remaining six areas of differences with Assam, Chief Secretary DP Wahlang said on Friday.

The announcement came after the Meghalaya High Court ordered an interim stay on physical demarcation or erection of boundary posts on the ground in connection with an agreement signed by the chief ministers of the two states in March, resolving differences in six of the 12 contested locations along the 884.9-km boundary in the first phase.

The three regional committees were constituted on September 26 to examine the present status of the remaining six areas of difference and submit their report within 45 days, the chief secretary said.

The committees were formed after the two states started the second phase of border talks for resolving the remaining six areas of difference.

"The regional committees have been granted another 45 days extension to submit their report to the state government," Wahlang told PTI

The chief ministerial-level talks between the two states were to be held by November-end but were marred by the deadly violence at the inter-state border in Mukroh.

The remaining areas of difference are Langpih in West Khasi Hills District, Borduar, Nongwah-Mawtamur, Deshdoomreah and Block-II in Ri Bhoi district, and Block-I and Psiar-Khanduli in West Jaintia Hills district.

The high court stayed the earlier agreement till the next date of hearing on February 6, 2023, on a petition filed by four traditional chiefs' of Meghalaya.

The boundary dispute between Assam and Meghalaya has lingered for 50 years. However, the effort to resolve it gained pace in recent times.

Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state in 1972, but the new state challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, leading to dispute in 12 border locations.