SHILLONG:
The regional committees of Meghalaya and Assam, on August 28, decided to conduct a joint visit to villages under the Langpih sector in September, after the Assembly sessions in the two states are over.
The decision was taken at the second round of meeting of the regional committee for West Khasi Hills led by cabinet minister Paul Lyngdoh and regional committee of Kamrup district led by Assam cabinet minister Chandra Mohan Patowary held at Pinewood hotel, here.
Addressing the media, Lyngdoh said the meeting had narrowed down the areas of conflict or areas where both the States have made claims and counterclaims.
“The members of district council (MDCs) and deputy commissioners of both the States have been tasked with the responsibility of preparing a list and coming up with specific names (of villages, which are problem free) in the next meeting, when we undertake the joint inspection,” he said.
The Chairman of regional committee for West Khasi Hills, said after this, the two regional committees will meet for conducting a joint onsite visit to villages under Langpih sector in the month of September, after the end of the Assembly sessions in the two States.
“We will try to cater to four or five villages and choose a central point as the meeting point so that we can go for site visits in the month of September,” he said.
When asked, Lyngdoh said, “We cannot be specific because these matters are hyper sensitive and we don’t want needless controversies and we don’t want any groups with vested interests to then take advantage of the discussion because the discussions are ongoing.”
Terming the joint meeting very cordial and fruitful, Chairman of regional committee for Kamrup district sector Chandra Mohan Patowary informed that both the States have exchange documents as far as their claims over villages in Langpih sector.
“We had a very cordial discussion today and we have narrowed down the gap. Previously it was a huge gap, now it is narrowed down and I hope after the Assembly sessions of Meghalaya and Assam because in September, Assembly sessions of Meghalaya and Assam will start. So after the Assembly session we will visit the areas and we will fix the date and after visiting the areas I hope we will conclude the discussion and we will arrive at a final conclusion of the meeting,” he said.
Expressing confidence to resolve the dispute within a very short time, Patowari however said, “I will not be in a position to speak because unless we visit the area, unless we know the mind-set of the people of that area, where they want to stay – that way let us visit the area and after visiting the area, we will be able to say so and so number of villages wants to stay in Meghalaya and so and so number of villages wants to stay in Assam. So right now at this moment it will not be fair if we mention the number of the villages.”
Whether Langpih would be difficult to resolve, the Assam minister said, “It will be resolved, don’t worry. There is no issue which cannot be solved through discussion. After discussion, every problem is solved. So I don’t think it will be a problem for us to solve. We have started the discussion and we hope we will resolve it.”
He also urged the cooperation of everybody to ensure that the regional committees come up with a solution that is acceptable to both Meghalaya and Assam.