SHILLONG:
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, on March 23, informed that over a hundred developmental projects are being carried out in the disputed areas, barring a few where work was stopped due to some localised problems, but maintained that district authorities of both Meghalaya and Assam are on the job to resolve the problems.
Replying to a question raised by Mawhati MLA Charles Marngar during the Question Hour on the fourth day of the budget session, Sangma said there is an agreement signed by the chief ministers of both Meghalaya and Assam for the smooth functioning of the developmental works in the disputed areas.
“Hundreds of projects are going on and it is only in a few places where work is stopped. Should they be stopped? Absolutely not. But all I am saying is that it is not happening in a large scale. Yes, there are some issues, somewhere, which are localised in nature and in such cases, the matter is taken up immediately (sic),” he said.
“One has to understand that the border dispute is a five decades-long issue and as an outcome of that difference, these kinds of incidents and work being stopped in the border areas take place,” Sangma said, adding that the problem is not one-sided but it occurs on both sides of the border.
Stating that the current dispensation is yet to sign any fresh agreement, Sangma, however, said that in the past agreements, the heads of both the states had verbally agreed, in front of all the regional committees’ members, to allow work to be carried out smoothly, especially centrally-sponsored schemes.
He further informed that in one of the lists, there are 50 works going on and out of these 50, all are progressing well, except three projects where work has been stopped.
There are other lists of projects implemented by different departments where 72 projects are ongoing and none were stopped.
The chief minister said that in the current dispensation in Assam and Meghalaya, communication is very strong. The concerned DCs and SPs of both states are in constant touch and whenever an issue arises, they try to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
“In the last few months, we have seen a large number of projects that were previously stopped have been resumed,” he added.