SHILLONG, MAR 31: The Survey of India has been asked to coordinate with Meghalaya and Assam for joint surveys before a Bill to redraw the boundary of the two states is introduced in the Parliament for its consideration.
“They (Survey of India) have been asked to coordinate with both the state governments and do joint surveys. Once that process is completed then we expect the Government of India to put up a Bill to reorganize or redraw the border and that will then put up in parliament and that will be the final stamp on it,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told reporters on Thursday.
His statement came after Meghalaya and Assam had signed the historic agreement to end the 50-year-old dispute in 6 of 12 areas of difference shared between the two states, at New Delhi on March 29, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Stating that the process will take some time to work on, Sangma however said, “But what is important is that this process has finally started and I keep maintaining that there are two-three things that a lot of people must understand that number one it is a question of trust building. We have seen that this exercise has allowed us to build trust between the states and the stakeholders also and number two, this has also allowed us to lay down some principles on the basis of which we will move forward and three, most importantly it has set the ball rolling where you are actually seeing the officials whether district or state level or the central level – we are all aware and involved in the process.”
He also referred to the recent incident of certain pillars being put up in West Khasi Hills and said, “Immediately within a matter of minutes I spoke to the Assam CM and he was very concerned about this and said this shouldn’t have happened at all and I will give immediate instruction to my team. This kind of an environment will obviously lead to a proper implementation of the project as well as peace in the area and both the states will work towards ensuring that while we resolve this issue, the people of these areas should not suffer.”
He claimed that both the states have come to a significantly good position to finally find the conclusion and solution to the problems in the border areas.
Asked as to when the two states resolve the remaining six areas of difference, the chief minister said assured that both the state governments will do their best to take the next phase forward.
“We will catch our breath for some time. It’s been a tough six months. It has not been easy but we are not going to waste time I can assure you that. We want the momentum to continue with the kind of understanding and the trust that has built up between the officials at all levels and with the political leadership I think it is an appropriate time to take discussion forward,” he said adding “We will do it very soon I don’t think it is possible for me to give a date but I can assure the people of our state and the region we are concern about this and we will do our best to take the next phase also forward.”
By Our Reporter
+ There are no comments
Add yours