SHILLONG: To solve the border-long pending border dispute, the first meeting of the regional committee for West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya will be held on October 14.
As per sources the meeting of the regional committee for West Khasi Hills will be chaired by Minister of Public Health Engineering (PHE) – Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar.
Speaking with reporters, the minister said that they will consider the recommendations of the committee members and stakeholders who will be participating in solving the border issues.
"We anticipate them providing us with valuable input", the minister said.
He also informed that invitation has also been sent to traditional heads of 39 villages that have shown their interest to participate in the meeting.
The minister however claimed that everyone would prefer to approve the same and said that such things may not always be in the case.
"Since there is a question of ethnicity and many people will be happy to be part of Meghalaya and many have expressed their desire as well. I hope the government of Assam will respect those villages", he stated.
Earlier the state government will leave the fate of reserve forests along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary to be decided by the Centre, even as the border dispute in general will be resolved bilaterally under the Namsai Declaration. There are several reserve forests along the 804-km inter-state boundary between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, which is the longest boundary that the state shares with any neighbour.
Assam's Border Development and Protection Minister Atul Bora said on Friday that the 12 Regional Committees of each state have already carried out site visits at least once each. Originally, the dispute between the two states was regarding 123 villages.
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